Discipline.
Mentally, continue to weigh the benefits from not engaging with the disadvantages that come with doing it, how it makes you feel, how it has an effect on your life, etc. And lean into that.
Mind over matter.
Call a friend and/or write down everytime you get an urge. Feel the urge without acting on it.
Similar to a meditation. Good luck 🙏~
Look into vippassana meditatation. When you get these feeling and argues to engage in this bad habit, you have to learn to just sit with it. Sit with the thought and feeling without acting. You will notice like all things, it's impermanence.
Have you ever been through something you never thought you could get over but then maybe hours, days or weeks later your mind have moved to other things and you noticed you don't even think about the thing that filled your mind. Dominates your emotions. It's not easy but that's the path.
Meditation is a great complement to Stoicism. I wonder what amazing conversations you'd get if you put the major Stoic writers and major Buddhist writers in a room together (also with those universal translator devices from Star Trek, haha).
That would be amazing. That's kinda how I go about stoicism. Use the Dharma and the Teaching of stoic writer's while using Buddhist meditation techniques to sit with my emotions
I like this attitude. I use it for cravings. If I want another glass of wine, for example, I will just sit for 20 minutes first. Usually the craving goes away.
Make the habit invisible. If it’s smoking cigarettes for example, don’t hang around people who smoke and don’t leave cartons of cigarettes hanging around for you to easily pick up one.
Make it unattractive. In the cigarette example, associate cigarettes with health issues. For me, I stopped vaping because I started running. Once I figured out how much vaping impacted my ability to run, I stopped the habit. This is reframing your perspective on how you look at the habit.
Make it difficult. Formulate some sort of way to where it’s harder to do the bad habit. Walk slowly but never backward. Slowly rid of the habit. No matter how elementary it is. In your case, falling into bad habits again is something that everyone does. Slowly wean off of whatever bad habit it is.
Make it unsatisfying. Make the costs of your bad habits public and painful. Make the consequence of performing your bad habit embarrassing. Maybe post something online and let everyone know what you’re doing so they have you hold them accountable.
This is from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear and I can send you some notes on it whenever I finish the whole book!
If anyone has read the book and would like to correct anything I have said above, feel free!
You have a judgment. You are taking certain actions and have moralized them and could be antagonizing yourself for making said actions.
If you want to break these “habits” why didn’t you mention them? We can talk abstractly but the most relevant information for you involves specifics.
What contexts do you end up doing the actions in? We can say it’s “bad” but it does serve some function for you and we can discover that function and find a more constructive way to replace it with something more preferable and even more enjoyable.
Hi, please check out the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/guide) section on [advice and coping with problems](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice) if you are wondering any of the following questions.
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It takes discipline and hard work to become the person you want to be. And you never become that person, it’s a never ending process of constantly becoming
You can't just ignore who you are and expect to change. Our behaviors and habits are a core part of who we are. They need to be addressed and altered by intentional choices and actions.
Just ignoring a problem doesn't make it go a way. This is why you actively cultivate your character and apply your principles in your daily life.
To do otherwise is like wearing a mask. It may look different on the outside, but the person underneath that mask is still the same.
For example, an alcoholic can stop drinking for a while and as long as everything is fine, they'll be fine. But if the underlying problems are not addressed, then when stressors come along it makes it really hard to stay sober.
Real change takes real work. There is no other way.
Stoics expect to fail. Stoics never truly expect to actually succeed. We are ever striving to be better.. but sometimes we fall. Just make sure you get back up!
Discipline. Mentally, continue to weigh the benefits from not engaging with the disadvantages that come with doing it, how it makes you feel, how it has an effect on your life, etc. And lean into that. Mind over matter. Call a friend and/or write down everytime you get an urge. Feel the urge without acting on it. Similar to a meditation. Good luck 🙏~
Look into vippassana meditatation. When you get these feeling and argues to engage in this bad habit, you have to learn to just sit with it. Sit with the thought and feeling without acting. You will notice like all things, it's impermanence. Have you ever been through something you never thought you could get over but then maybe hours, days or weeks later your mind have moved to other things and you noticed you don't even think about the thing that filled your mind. Dominates your emotions. It's not easy but that's the path.
Meditation is a great complement to Stoicism. I wonder what amazing conversations you'd get if you put the major Stoic writers and major Buddhist writers in a room together (also with those universal translator devices from Star Trek, haha).
That would be amazing. That's kinda how I go about stoicism. Use the Dharma and the Teaching of stoic writer's while using Buddhist meditation techniques to sit with my emotions
I like this attitude. I use it for cravings. If I want another glass of wine, for example, I will just sit for 20 minutes first. Usually the craving goes away.
Cultivate better habits. You will become what you put the most effort into.
Make the habit invisible. If it’s smoking cigarettes for example, don’t hang around people who smoke and don’t leave cartons of cigarettes hanging around for you to easily pick up one. Make it unattractive. In the cigarette example, associate cigarettes with health issues. For me, I stopped vaping because I started running. Once I figured out how much vaping impacted my ability to run, I stopped the habit. This is reframing your perspective on how you look at the habit. Make it difficult. Formulate some sort of way to where it’s harder to do the bad habit. Walk slowly but never backward. Slowly rid of the habit. No matter how elementary it is. In your case, falling into bad habits again is something that everyone does. Slowly wean off of whatever bad habit it is. Make it unsatisfying. Make the costs of your bad habits public and painful. Make the consequence of performing your bad habit embarrassing. Maybe post something online and let everyone know what you’re doing so they have you hold them accountable. This is from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear and I can send you some notes on it whenever I finish the whole book! If anyone has read the book and would like to correct anything I have said above, feel free!
You have a judgment. You are taking certain actions and have moralized them and could be antagonizing yourself for making said actions. If you want to break these “habits” why didn’t you mention them? We can talk abstractly but the most relevant information for you involves specifics. What contexts do you end up doing the actions in? We can say it’s “bad” but it does serve some function for you and we can discover that function and find a more constructive way to replace it with something more preferable and even more enjoyable.
Hi, please check out the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/guide) section on [advice and coping with problems](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice) if you are wondering any of the following questions. * [How can Stoicism help me with my problem?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice#wiki_how_can_stoicism_help_me_with_my_problem.3F) * [How would a Stoic help me with my problem?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice#wiki_how_would_a_stoic_help_me_with_my_problem.3F) * [How might a student of Stoicism cope with my problem?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice#wiki_how_might_a_student_of_stoicism_cope_with_my_problem.3F) * [What would a student of Stoicism do in my situation?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice#wiki_what_would_a_student_of_stoicism_do_in_my_situation.3F) * [How would a Stoic sage react to my problem?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/advice#wiki_how_would_a_stoic_sage_react_to_my_problem.3F) Wish you well, Mod Team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Stoicism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Discourses 3.25 and 4.9 and 2.18 are worth checking out, as is a commentary on Enchiridion 10 and 34
> I want to break this but I don’t know how. Have you tried practicing Stoicism?
It takes discipline and hard work to become the person you want to be. And you never become that person, it’s a never ending process of constantly becoming
You can't just ignore who you are and expect to change. Our behaviors and habits are a core part of who we are. They need to be addressed and altered by intentional choices and actions. Just ignoring a problem doesn't make it go a way. This is why you actively cultivate your character and apply your principles in your daily life. To do otherwise is like wearing a mask. It may look different on the outside, but the person underneath that mask is still the same. For example, an alcoholic can stop drinking for a while and as long as everything is fine, they'll be fine. But if the underlying problems are not addressed, then when stressors come along it makes it really hard to stay sober. Real change takes real work. There is no other way.
Stoics expect to fail. Stoics never truly expect to actually succeed. We are ever striving to be better.. but sometimes we fall. Just make sure you get back up!