Can you give up a bad habit by giving up something important-no cell phone until

1. 74

   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   Can you give up a bad habit by giving up something important-no cell phone until cuss words stop?
   
   When I was young I bit my fingernails. I was deprived of candy until I stopped. Would that work for teens and adults for habits like smoking, swearing, drinking too much. talking back?

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2. 73

   thranaxposted 11 years ago

   It might work for teens but it wouldn't work for adults. Adults should know better by then and if they swear thats how they will be until they learn when and where its ok to or not. I personally don't have any issues with people swearing, the words all exist and its proven the F word is the most versatile word in the whole English Dictionary.
   
   ~thranax~

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3. 0

   msorenssonposted 11 years ago

   I don;t think my parents had to resort to any hard disciplining on any of us..at least not that I remember.

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4. 59

   Free2writ3posted 11 years ago

   Definitely. It depends on how bad I wanna give up that bad habit....As long as stopping the bad habit helps me in the long run. It might work for some teens not all..

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5. 79

   jennshealthstoreposted 11 years ago

   I think what it boils down to is if you want to give up a habit, you have to WANT to give up the habit. It is a mind set. I do not think that being deprived of something as an adult would really work, because they will just replace that with something else.

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6. 72

   That Grrlposted 11 years ago

   I used to bite my fingernails for years. Then, in the first year of high school I just stopped. I made the decision not to do it and suddenly I just quit. I don' think depriving or punishing yourself (or someone else with a habit) is going to work in the long term. It really has to be something you fully decide and change in yourself. I'm 47 and I've never bitten my nails again, since grade nine.

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7. 0

   jlcustompcposted 11 years ago

   Swearing is fun I refuse to not swear. WE use swear words to increase our tone or to express our great emotions.
   
   Dang it just does not have the same effect as ¥0µ 90ÐÐ4MN M07H3R ƒµ(|{1N9 WH0R3
   
   That would be leet!

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8. 65

   Parks McCantsposted 11 years ago

   My grandmother put banana oil on my nails. I stopped biting them when I was 35.
   No ...  It takes self commitment to change a behavioural pattern. Much like spanking children for misbehaving, trading or retracting treets and or favors does not send the right message to the child or teen. Take the cell phone away for good measure. Teens don't need to be glued to a cell phone. Life's distracting enough as it is.  Best of luck...

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9. 41

   Lyn Dianoposted 11 years ago

   You can only give up something when you have experienced higher taste on something else. Just like a child who can't give up his old and worn out toy...but when the mother gave him a new one that totally interests him, he gave up the old toy without whining.

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10. 86

    SidKempposted 11 years ago

    I know this wouldn't work for me, and I don't think that it is really effective.
    
    The problem is that we know that the connection between stopping the habit and getting the reward is arbitrary.
    
    I've found the most effective, long-term habit change comes from self-awareness, compassion for ourselves, and commitment.
    
    The challenge of eliminating an old, unhealthy is that a habit is composed of the knowledge of what do to, the skill of how to do it, and the desire to do it. We can't lose the knowledge or the skill. So we must focus on the desire.
    
    The challenge of creating a new, healthy habit is that we must learn all three: the knowledge, the skill, and the desire.
    
    I eliminated cuss words by practicing self-awareness of the thoughts and feelings that lead to my speaking. For three years, I would ask myself three questions before I spoke: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? I only spoke if all three were true about each sentence. Once I got the sentences right, I worked on phrases. Then I brought it down to words.
    
    It became a natural gift to speak from a peaceful place, with gratitude and appreciation.
    
    I save my cuss words for my journal!

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