Well the New Year has arrived along with the drifts of snow in Cheshire and Greater Manchester – in most of the UK in fact. The anticipated start of work has been delayed for many of us. Nice for the ‘inner child’ in us all that wants to sledge and throw snow balls – but not for the ‘parent’ in us that needs to work, earn and provide. Quite frustrating when you can’t get your car off the drive after such a long absence.

I question if the New Year Resolution has been postponed too. Is it too slippery to go for that run, I can’t quite make it to the gym in this weather, or perhaps I need that chocolate bar because it’s so cold outside?

New Year Resolutions are a strange phenomenon, perhaps a natural knee-jerk reaction to the festivities that precede the start of the year. It seem like a good time to lose weight, stop smoking or try to change some behaviour, and if you are motivated to do something positive, then that is absolutely fine.

However, have you ever wondered why they don’t seem to last? Why do gymnasiums sign us up for a year and then most of us stop going in February? The answer is quite simple, it is about habits. We are creatures of habit, we wake up at the same time and then our subconscious is on auto-pilot. Breakfast, smoke, shower, drive to work (usually the same route), coffee (maybe a biscuit – chocolate perhaps), work, lunch (same time each day), home (probably the same way as you went in), tea, TV, and then to bed after brushing your teeth. I happen to like a glass of Lefe on a Friday night, in the kitchen, never in the lounge.

That is my habit, and habits are so hard to break, because they are engrained into the sub conscious (the most powerful part of the mind.) Trying to consciously break a habit is like swimming against the tide. That is why generally diets don’t work for weight loss and stopping smoking on your own is notoriously difficult. In my experience the best way to break a habit is by using hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapists relay a suggestion directly to the subconscious, and therefore if you want to stop smoking or want to eat more healthily this can be done relatively easily using hypnosis.

If you would like to talk to someone about breaking a habit that is going to make a permanent change and not a New Year fad, call us at Calm Minds on 0161 439 7773.