How to Stop Picking Your Nose (Breaking Embarrassing Habits)

    We all have habits we're not so proud of - being lazy in school and not doing homework, talking on AIM or Facebook Chat for way too long, masturbating too many times a day, etc etc. Habits are not new to humans and there are both good habits and bad. Good habits such as brushing your teeth at night or flossing, or drinking 8 glasses of water, or working out regularly are quite beneficial to us and are amazing because once they become habits we never have to think about them. In fact we become forced to do these things - it becomes a compulsion that makes us better.

    I came home last night at 4am from a bar, dead tired, and collapsed on my bed - but my mind wouldn't let me sleep and made me get up and brush my teeth. Habits can be enormously powerful and controlling. If they're good habits that's wondeful but often we have certain detrimental habits that seem to run our lives.

    I realized recently when my ex-girlfriend kept making fun of me for it - that I was a compulsive nose picker. Yes, it's hard for me to admit it but I am one of those disgusting human beings.

    Since breaking old habits is so hard to do, I've put together these steps to follow when trying to kick this habit or any other weird, bizarre habit you may have.

1) Change the environment.
I realized I would only engage in this self-pleasing yet publicly disgusting activity when I'm studying in my room, late at night.

Fix: Study OUTSIDE and don't stay in my room at that time. By changing the circumstances the habit isnt triggered by my brain, helping to alleviate it.

2) Be aware.
This might sound like a stupid suggestion but the most important thing when trying to kick a habit is to be aware you are engaging in it. I would sometimes pick my nose without even paying attention to what I was doing - it was on a subconscious level. By being more aware of my hands and activity while studying, I could better prevent my self from engaging in it.

Suggestions - some recommend putting peppers on your fingers or covering up your fingers with lots of tape so that they don't fit into your nostrils. These suggestions I put in this category because I believe they are meant to help you be aware and stop you when you're about to pick your nose or other habit.

3) Get a friend to help you.I would tell my ex-gf to always let me know if she caught me so that I could stop. The buddy system is very effective. They can let you know when you're engaging in your habit and help you snap out of it.

4) Replace this activity with something else, that's better for you. I know lots of smokers end up becoming hardcore gum chewers at first, that is, until they kick that habit as well. Perhaps this is what you need to do too to first kick your habit. Just don't pick a replacement hobby that's worse than the original.

5) The secret to a lot of personal development success is mind power. You have to
    a) understand how detrimental your habit is to your person
    b) that you can kick this habit and stop it from taking over your life
    c) force yourself to do it

The suggestions I've given you above will help - I guarantee that much - but they will not do it for you. It's about mind power.

You should also use the other suggestions in this blog - including that about making lists of things you do - to help break old habits. Yes, they're hard to break - but take it from me - I did it and you should be able to also.