This article focus' on seven everyday strategies you can use to bust through entrenched porn habits.
Wanting to break your porn habits?
You are not alone! Porn is so accessible and many of us struggle. There should be no shame in admitting porn use. And remember that shame fosters secret building which is not helpful when trying to change habits.
Porn use can have an effect on many levels. It can leave us lacking motivation to build into our relationships at home and work.
Good news, you are not destined to be that person who looks at porn forever. Here are seven everyday habit busting strategies.
One: Admit to yourself porn has become a problem. For behaviours and habits to change we need to be willing to acknowledge what is not helpful in our lives.
Two: Tell someone. Speaking out can create a shift, and elevate your awareness of your own porn use. This person should be someone you can be honest with. Maybe a monthly or weekly check in with this person to create some accountability. Remember secrecy increases power.
Three: Ask yourself, 'When do I use mostly use porn?' Once identified, leave your device away from that place and time. Bring in some self imposed boundaries. This starts to change the way we think and respond in these situations. Using willpower grows more willpower.
Four: Bring in an action to interrupt your habitual use. For instance if you usually use porn when you first come home from work because you are home alone for a while, do some needed task around the home instead or arrange to do something else at that time. Change out the habit time.
Five: Do your own research on the effects of porn use. There is a lot of information and help regarding this subject. Search suggestions: Negative effects of porn. What is a porn addiction. Help giving up porn etc. There is huge amounts of information to support a shift away from porn use. Also see links below of helpful sites and articles.
Six: Identify why you want to change your habits. Usual reasons are: over-tired, not easily simulated by real partner, loosing interest in family relationships, work, and other daily commitments. You may have already lost relationships for reasons linked directly to behaviours caused by porn use. You may not be able to salvage these, but you can develop healthier thoughts which will foster new behaviours towards others.
Seven: List your reasons for giving up. We will all have different reasons. Use these as porn kryptonite. Memorise and make them your mantra. When you move into your usual porn space - recite your mantra. The more you replace a thought with another thought, you will make new brain patterns. You know those groves you see in brains, yeah, many of those groves are made by repeated thought patters/behaviours. Some groves are more deep than others but it is possible to make new groves.
I have focused on breaking a habit here, if you have an addiction to porn, you can change that too. With support and strategies - you got this!
If you are the partner, mother, father, brother, sister or friend who they tell. Take a breath, try not to jump to conclusions. This is the start of a conversation and it takes a certain amount of bravery to talk about porn use.
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