Barefoot Doctor Bit: What’s The Best Way to Quit Something Bad You Enjoy?
Barefoot Doctor: “This is a tricky question, perhaps the trickiest of all and while there are there are various approaches, there’s no glib solution.
One possible method though that’s worth exploring is to invent a persona for your habit that you visualise as something external. Talk to this entity respectfully but firmly with your mind, body and soul, saying, ‘I now set you free and cancel any contract I consciously or inadvertently made with you. I thank you for all the help you’ve given me, for all the insights you’ve afforded me and for all the fun we’ve had together and wish you well with your future – bless you!’
Next visualise the personality of whatever it is you’re intending to quit, smiling in acknowledgment, turning around and walking away until it vanishes into the distance. Repeat this at least three times. The effects will start working immediately.
Next, find a substitute addiction, but one that’s constructive rather than destructive such as yoga, tai chi or running; something physical that can provide natural highs while simultaneously increasing your feelings of self-worth and self-confidence.
Apply the same enthusiasm or discipline to your new constructive pastime as you did for the old one, and whenever you feel tempted to relapse, tell yourself, ‘I am no longer susceptible to negative forces that wish to destroy me. I choose health, life and longevity’.”
Questions by Skrufff.
