As you embark on your journey to change habits, you may find yourself feeling moody, irritated, and frustrated. This is particularly true for smokers dealing with the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
You may also feel moody and angry quickly and be less tolerant of other people’s actions. This is completely normal when you change your habits and it is a temporary state of mind that will pass.
If you feel angry or frustrated with people (or the copier!), take a deep breath and remind yourself where these feelings come from. If the feelings don’t go away, get up and go for a walk; to the water cooler or around the block. This will allow you to focus on something other than the thing or person that made you feel so tense.
You can try some or all of these habit-breaking tricks to make your habit change work:
- speak it. Find a quiet place and let yourself go! Have fun and rant about why you are so frustrated and angry. Continue until you’re sick of the sound of your own voice, and then continue for another minute to make sure everything is out of your system. I’ve found this to be a great technique for getting rid of frustrations when I have a habit to break.
- Extension. When you feel irritated, take a moment and do some gentle stretches. If you find that this trick is right for you, consider going to a stretching or yoga class.
- Breathe. This is a great trick to use anywhere. Simply take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this 5 times and be aware of how you feel.
- Meditation. You can use mediation to distance yourself from the thoughts that are running around in your head. Find a comfortable place and close your eyes. Simply let your thoughts come and go and observe them as if you were an independent observer. If you feel like you’re getting off track, just start over as an observer.
- working out. This is great for releasing pent up frustration, especially if you find an exercise that allows you to vent your frustration. Tennis, squash, or a kick boxing class would be great ways to get rid of any irritation.
- Relax. When you are frustrated or irritated, you are tensing the muscles in your body. Take a break and take a warm bubble bath or massage to relax.
- food. Avoid any food that makes you nervous. I know that too much sugar and caffeine can cause me to become hyperactive. You need to identify any foods that might make you feel nervous while changing habits.
Let those close to you know why you’re feeling tense so they understand that it’s not really them that’s causing you irritation, but rather the process of changing habits that’s causing your frustration. Although these feelings can be overwhelming, keep in mind that they are only temporary.