Willpower alone is not always an effective means of changing a habit, but if mindfulness is added to the equation, one increases one's chances of success. Mindfulness is key to understanding one's motive, in other words, "the why." Why is one acting a certain way? Answering this question brings awareness and takes one out of robotic behavior, and the door is opened to more efficient solutions being found. Also, when one steps back to review the situation, one takes on the role of an observer, thereby temporarily removing and disassociating oneself from it. From this place, one has the option to override the program, which, over time, will weaken any immediate and automatic reactions as you instead learn to respond. .
For example, you snack too much between meals. You tell yourself to cut back. You are able to sustain this for a couple days, then you break down and buy more snack food to munch on. The next time when you find yourself doing this, look deep within and ask yourself why you are. The reasons might be many; perhaps you are bored; perhaps you are fidgety; perhaps food is your comfort; perhaps food is your distraction; etc. Be honest with yourself. Once you have answered your question, that is, once you know why you are acting this way, accept responsibility and invest your energies in finding a more constructive fulfillment of that need. Yes, it might take discipline.
In my particular case, I used to often be late for work. No amount of willpower to leave the house 5 minutes sooner worked; I would snooze away any extra time. You would think my "why" in this case would be simple - that I was late because I left the house late, but it was also because I went to bed late. So, the next question to answer, i.e. find a solution to, was why was I going to bed late? Well, it was because I generally felt like I did not have enough "me time" during the day and tried to make up for it at night. What I then learned was that it was a question of time management and self-actualization. Once I brought focus into my schedule to make time to be able to do more activities that actually fulfilled me, such as writing, I then no longer felt like I had to stay up that late anymore. This allowed for more sleep of a better quality, and I was not as tired anymore in the mornings.
In short, get to know thyself by taking the time to answer the various "why's" in your life. There might be a chain of them. However, once you know the background, you can then better determine the "foreground."
For example, you snack too much between meals. You tell yourself to cut back. You are able to sustain this for a couple days, then you break down and buy more snack food to munch on. The next time when you find yourself doing this, look deep within and ask yourself why you are. The reasons might be many; perhaps you are bored; perhaps you are fidgety; perhaps food is your comfort; perhaps food is your distraction; etc. Be honest with yourself. Once you have answered your question, that is, once you know why you are acting this way, accept responsibility and invest your energies in finding a more constructive fulfillment of that need. Yes, it might take discipline.
In my particular case, I used to often be late for work. No amount of willpower to leave the house 5 minutes sooner worked; I would snooze away any extra time. You would think my "why" in this case would be simple - that I was late because I left the house late, but it was also because I went to bed late. So, the next question to answer, i.e. find a solution to, was why was I going to bed late? Well, it was because I generally felt like I did not have enough "me time" during the day and tried to make up for it at night. What I then learned was that it was a question of time management and self-actualization. Once I brought focus into my schedule to make time to be able to do more activities that actually fulfilled me, such as writing, I then no longer felt like I had to stay up that late anymore. This allowed for more sleep of a better quality, and I was not as tired anymore in the mornings.
In short, get to know thyself by taking the time to answer the various "why's" in your life. There might be a chain of them. However, once you know the background, you can then better determine the "foreground."