How to Stop Annoying Habits with One Small Change

In this Video...
Coach Sheree discusses how she broke a familiar chain of unhelpful behaviours using a simple mindset shift. Learn how to recognise and stop the reaction earlier.

 Mindset Shift |  Daily Life  |  Educational

Angry with Myself

Oh, how annoying it is when we do something we don't want to do. I'm so annoyed with myself. Yes, I did something that I'm really peeved about.

But you know, it's good to know that us coaches are human as well. And I want to tell you what I've done. So I had a very not a good day on one of the days this last week.

The Chocolate and Corn Chip Spiral

And I actually straight after that, I decided to head off to the shop and bought corn chips and chocolate, at least it was dark chocolate. But you know what, I after I calmed down from that, and ate all my corn chips, ate the chocolate, bought some chocolate the next day. This is not my norm.

Recognising a Pattern: The Chain Reaction

So I'm not going to get too on myself. But I was annoyed what made that happen? What could I have done to stop that from occurring? So I would like to speak to you a little bit about the chain reaction and how we can stop ourselves moving from this point to that point to that point in probably what we've always done all our life, where we can break that process and actually go a different way and make a different decision than what we otherwise would have because we've just programmed to be that way our whole life. So I'm just going to do a simple diagram here of the chain reaction.

When I Could Have Broken the Chain

Now here, I was annoyed, like I was really upset. So I could have chosen to have broken this chain where I end up at the store buying my chocolate, I could have stopped it back here. So I could have snapped off that chain right here and gone for a walk in the in the park, gone for a walk by the water on the beach where I always feel really good and relaxed, but I didn't.

So I moved on to the next spot where I thought I am going to rant and rave and then I'm going to stop at the shop, I wanted to buy my granddaughter a gift, so that was my reason for going to the shop. I should never have done it that day, so I could have snapped off the next chain. So then I'm in the shop, I could have avoided the chocolate altogether because I know what my go-to is when I'm really upset, I want chocolate.

What I could Have Done Differently

So I could have snapped off that chain, bought the gift, gone straight out of the store and got myself out of there. So then because I went by the chocolate section, just have a look and see what was there, see if there was anything on sale and it was, so I bought my chocolate and then I could have stopped there and gone out with just chocolate, but I wandered over to the chip section and then I bought my chips. So this is called a chain reaction, it's where our behaviour can be snapped off, stopped at any one of these chains.

I could have stopped it way back here, so here when I was upset I could have not gone to the shop, just stopped it here and gone for a walk and I wouldn't have bought my chocolate, wouldn't have bought my chips and I would have been fine.

The Moment I let the Chain Run It's Course

But the fact is I didn't, I let myself go through all my normal reactions, I was at the shop, I went to the chocolate section bought, I went to the chip section bought. Look I could have put them down on the way out and thought I'm not taking these, but I was already in the mindset, stuff it, I'm going to eat this and eat it I did.

Did I feel good at the time? Yeah, did I feel good after it? Not particularly. So just showing you this because this was taught to me by a good friend who was trying to work through some things in her life and taught me all about this chain reaction. I think it's a good one to keep in mind that when you are feeling upset, maybe take stock of yourself and go what could I do instead of doing my norm? What can I do instead of going to the shop and buying chocolate? I could go for a walk or I could ground myself, I could do some breathing exercises, I could go talk to a good friend and have a cup of tea instead of doing what I always do.

Back on Track (Mostly)

So I hope that helps you. It didn't help me during the week but I've reminded myself of it now and I'm back on track. So yeah, so it's a simple tool and something that might help you in future instead of buying that chocolate.

My one thing there, I did opt for the dark chocolate so don't feel so bad.