Habits are automatic responses to certain stimuli. It is the tendency to act in a certain way when certain factors are present, the repetition of the presence of these factors causes the repetition of such actions. For example, if you have a habit of watching football, either live or on TV, so long as football is being played, all things being equal, you would watch that football match.

Also, since you already have the habit of brushing your teeth each morning you wake up, you would always brush your teeth in the morning, provided there is a morning and you wake up to see it. From the two examples above, we see that the stimuli, which are things that provoke or incite or cause actions are the football match and the morning.

Habits, though they are mainly automatic responses, they didn't just show up. Every automatic device was first programmed before it could function automatically. In the same way, you first programmed your mind, the subconscious mind, either consciously or subconsciously, which resulted to your habits. Thoughts leads to actions; and actions, when repeated over time leads to habits. It is the repetition of certain thoughts that leads to certain actions which are the obvious revelation or dramatization of the thoughts that one was thinking, which in turn leads to the formation of habits, good or bad. Bad habits are basically fruits of repeated bad thoughts.

These bad thoughts which are the main causes of bad habits can show up in man's unwillingness to learn. A good example is the person that refuses to stop doing an act, like smoking, after being told about the dangers he stands to suffer. If such acts are repeated over time, habits can then be formed from them.

Ignorance, which is the lack of knowledge of something is another cause of bad habits. Surprised? Some people indulge in certain acts that are bad without prior knowledge of the morals of such acts. They may have not been told that such things are wrong, thus, they continue in it and suffer the consequences.

A wrong attempt to ease pain is also a major reason behind the formation of bad habits. For some who have certain pains and lack the dynamos to manage or solve them go into stuffs like narcotics in order to ease the pains, yet it only worsens the issue, creating biological problems for them in addition to the previous one.

A wrong desire for satisfaction is another major reason behind the formation of bad habits. It is ironical that evil happens to be sweet and easier to do and stick with than good. Thus the fleeting satisfaction derived from doing evil also entices people into forming self-defeating habits. It seems a lot easier to steal $500 than to earn it, thus, some may go for the short-cut which is to steal. And when satisfaction comes into play, they could take stealing as a habit. Man has a high tendency to repeat anything that affords him satisafaction or pleasure.

Do bad habits have any adverse effects? They do and sometimes the effects could be grave and self-defeating; it could even lead to death, depending on the habit. Bad habits is one of the reasons for failure in life, breakup of relationships, sickness and stagnation in life. One of the reasons why a lot of marriages are not working today is because of the bad habits of the spouses, and so long as such bad habits perpetuates, the problems or crises in such families would persist. Look at your life now, how many times have you wished you could stop doing a particular habit which is causing you a lot of harm already? Your habits can determine your destiny or fate in life. Someone has wisely said: "Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."

In eradicating bad habits, you must first tackle it as a problem. First you must know what the problem is, to get this, get out a book and use it put down genuine answers to certain questions that you would be asking yourself along the line. Now ask yourself these; "What are the bad habits in my life that I want to get rid of? Why do I do them? When do I do them? Where do I do them? When did I start doing them? How do I do them? What am I presently suffering or stand to suffer in the future for doing them? Am I willing to stop them? What factors must be in place before I do them, what causes it?

Now that you know what your problem is, it is half-solved. The second step is to solve it completely. Since we know that habits are programmes of the subconscious mind, it is important that the subconscious mind be reprogrammed in order to get over bad habits. To do that, on that same book, write out all the opposite things in relation to your bad habits that are good - good habits that you want to start exhibiting rather that the bad ones, which would kick out the bad ones and then say those things to yourself everyday, standing in front of a mirror. Or for faster results, make it three times daily.

Solve your problem! Every bad habit is linked with a deficiency or weakness in one's life. Discover what your problem really is and solve it. After doing these, you just have few weeks, depending on your desperation for your freedom from your bad habits, all of it, to get out of your subconscious mind and out of your life completely. Apply these steps and you must see changes, positive ones in your life in relation to your bad habits. I see you being free from your bad habits in few weeks time.