When making a change, it's important to realize bad habits are like addictions--

It takes hard work and consistency to break old habits and learn something new. This is difficult to manage because most of us like to keep things simple, easy and painlessly delicious. But as they always say, "No pain, no gain."

In the process of changing, go easy on yourself and don't keep company with things you can't resist. When the going gets tough, remind yourself to follow 

a few rules:

• Anything worth achieving takes commitment, practice and patience, so start with a change in attitude.

• It takes an average of 66 days to learn something new, so keep this in mind when trying to make improvements. 

• Changing habits means changing the routine. This includes finding new places to hang out and new people to hang out with.  Changing old habits is mostly about breaking the routine that leads to bad practices and choices.

• Keep balanced. Don't try too hard or not hard enough and you avoid the "see-saw" effect of mood swings, self-resentment, insecurity about the progress being made and ultimately self-sabotage, which ruins everything.

•  If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, get up and do something about it.  Don't just sit there and by all means, do not reach for "quick-fix" solutions because they numb the control centers in your brain, making it easy to give up.

• Find someone to call when you feel tempted because if you're trying to change habits, one temptation can lead to destruction of an entire plan of action no matter how long you followed the regimen.

When making a change, it's important to realize bad habits are like addictions--making the same choices knowing they are detrimental to your health. Acquiring new habits requires the same discipline, course of action and network of support for when the going gets rough.