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This week, I’ll be summarizing the “Breaking Bad Habits” episode from The Brendon Show. Brendon Burchard is a world-leading high-performance coach who has earned the praises of Forbes, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Success Magazine. In this episode, he digs a little deeper into what habits are, and how we can train ourselves to break them.
Types of bad habits:
Brendon identifies 4 types of bad habits, which are habits that:
- Are caused by a desire to protect ourselves (e.g. procrastination to save face)
- Pacify ourselves (e.g. over-eating)
- Placating (i.e. pleasing other people at our expense)
- Proving ourselves forcefully to validate our egos (e.g. aggressive fights)
What’s the secret to breaking bad habits?
Firstly, identify your habit with regard to the outcome it achieves. Then, rehearse breaking it by asking yourself, “if my highest self was here right now, what would they do?”
Brendon emphasizes that we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves when we can’t break the habit every time. Instead, focus on winning the war rather than the battle. Over time, you will have more strength to break bad habits since your brain will recognize the positive feeling you get from actively staying away from them!
Building up that initial momentum is tough, but once you get it going, you’ll find it much easier to build good habits instead.
About the Author
Lubaba Mahmud is going into her third year at SFU, and she’s doing a double major in Economics and International Studies, with a certificate in Social Justice. She’s passionate about international development and research, and she hopes to work professionally work in these fields in the future.