Most people find stopping their nail biting extremely difficult. Changing a habit successfully means having a good support network. People who will support and assist you when you need encouragement should be included. Friends, family and professional resources all can be part of your support network.
1. Behavior Change Is Best Managed with Positive Reinforcement The support of friends makes the change easier especially when difficult times are experienced.
By informing your support network and friends of your plans, they will be ready to assist you. The public announcement reinforces your intent which helps in quitting.
New activities or a change in environment can be most important during the first critical days and weeks of your stop nail biting plan.
Many people use negative deterrents as ways of changing their behavior. We all remember being yelled at as a child. Did the yelling always reinforce the behavior your parents wanted? But think of the times you received praise for what you did. You were ready to repeat that behavior.
It's no different as an adult. Use positive reinforcement and people to reinforce your plan to change your nail biting habit.
Stay away from people who bite their nails. This may be difficult if person is a family member or close friend. Avoid times or situations where you frequently bite your nails.
2. You Can Reward Yourself for Success By rewarding ourselves for behavior changes, it reinforces the desired result. This means if you reward yourself for sticking with your plan, your brain sees this as reinforcing the new behavior.
Each time you reinforce the new behavior, you over ride or minimize the old habit. By reinforcing the behavior change on a daily basis new behavior reaction patterns start to form in your brain. This makes it easier for you to stay on track with your new behavior of stopping your nail biting habit.
Reinforcement rewards don't have to be large or even elaborate. Some people use calendars to mark the successful days. If a day is too long, then take it hour by hour. It sound silly, but seeing check marks all lined up can be very reassuring.
For some people stars, stickers and seals don't mean a thing. Make your reward something special for you. For it to work the reward has to be something you value. It doesn't need to be elaborate or even valuable. Just reward yourself for your progress in stopping the nail biting habit.
3. Join either an online or offline support group Talking with other people who are going through the same experience can make it easier to quit especially on those difficult or stressful days. Many forums or other groups such as Yahoo or AOL will have support groups for nail biting. Type "nail biting forum" int the MSN, Google, Yahoo or AOL window. This is one of the easiest ways to connect with other people sharing your concerns.
Like any habit nail biting takes time and effort to stop. It took time to learn the behavior. Give yourself time to stop the behavior.
