Breaking Unhealthy Habits through Continuous Realization, Planning, and Actualization Essay

The unhealthy habits of a person may differ from another in terms of its nature, quantity, and occurrence. In fact, it is common and quite predictable for an individual to develop at least one unhealthy habit (Van Dusen, 2008). Unhealthy habits may include common examples such as cigarette smoking, frequent and excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages, and overeating unhealthy food variants. As one can see from the examples, unhealthy habits are usually common practices of numerous individuals; thus, they are generally overlooked. However, there is a reason as to why such habits are termed as unhealthy. The reason for the term is that one’s personal health and welfare are compromised through the practice of such habits. Hence, keeping unhealthy habits are a considerable risk to an individual. Therefore, there is a need for individuals to take action and finally break unhealthy habits. The process of breaking unhealthy habits can be divided into three major segments which are realization, planning, and actualization. In terms of realization, an individual must assess the unhealthy habits that he or she currently practices and must understand the possible repercussions by continuing such negative practices. In fact, it has been determined that the problem as to why people rarely break free from unhealthy habits is that they do not realize the dangers associated with their actions (Van Dusen, 2008). If an individual will completely be able to understand the negative effects of his or her unhealthy habits, then questions regarding the reason why such habits should be or should not be continued will arise. For example, a male smoker may think that cigarette smoking is good since it helps in keeping the alertness of a person; on the other hand, he may also think about the detrimental effects that smoking has on the body such as increased risks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. When the individual finally realizes that the negative aspects generally outweigh the positive ones, then the next segment of breaking unhealthy habits can be initiated. Planning pertains to the possible actions that one can make in order to move away from continuously doing an unhealthy habit. Using the male smoker again as an example, he may plan to eliminate all the cigarettes that he currently has and remove all related objects or signs as well. In addition, the smoker may also opt to consult experts in cases of nicotine addiction in order to gain further knowledge and potential solutions to his problem. The expert may provide medical solutions to such a problem by offering specific sets of drugs to help the body adjust to the condition of being nicotine free. In this sense, an individual with an unhealthy habit may plan to conduct actions that will prevent further occurrence of the habit itself by eliminating the root causes and associated objects or consulting with consulting experts or medical professionals when applicable. Hence, planning to break an unhealthy habit may be conducted personally or with the help of others. The last segment of the process pertains to actualization. This is quite self-explanatory since planning will be of no use if not followed. Therefore, a person that has assessed and planned what he or she must do in order to break an unhealthy habit must not only start out his or her plan but stick to it as well. Given this, an individual that initiates ways in order to remove the unhealthy habit but ends up quitting halfway will obviously be not successful in eliminating the unhealthy habit. Thus, one can only determine that a person has broken free of unhealthy habits if the person does not return to doing it for a long period of time. In this sense, breaking an unhealthy habit is not defined by being free of such unhealthy actions in the short period after the actualization of the plans. Keeping clean of unhealthy habits requires continuous conviction and belief that returning to the practice of unhealthy habits will only bring forth negative consequences. Therefore, breaking unhealthy habits and maintaining a state free of such habits is not easy, but through a continuous sense and understanding of the three segments discussed, it is highly probable that the individual will be successful in his or her pursuit.