This week I've made a decent sized habit change - I have given up caffeinated sodas/drinks. No more energy drinks or 32-ounce Diet Mountain Dews for me. No more Diet Coke. I've gone five days without and things are going well.
What motivated breaking the habit? Well, obviously drinking large quantities of diet soda is not a healthy thing. And I won't even go into energy drinks. But really, it was the question of whether I am addicted to the caffeine laden drinks and what the consequences would be if I went cold turkey--really, how hard would it be for me to stop?
Obviously, there's TEOTWAWKI and disaster scenarios at work here. I don't stockpile Diet Coke and Monster Energy drinks, so I'd be fresh out within, at best, a few days. How hard would the sudden switch to no-caffeine be on me?
Overall, it hasn't been that difficult. A few headaches and a nap Tuesday afternoon have been the real consequences. I've felt lower energy in general, but that's my "normal" state and one of the reasons why I drank the occasional Monster Energy. Nothing that I can't just suck up and plow through.
My method for breaking habits is a fairly simple one - find a substitute. My substitute for Diet Dew and energy drinks has been lo-carb Gatorade and drinking extra water. Nothing rocket-science like. Of course, Diet Dew and energy drinks aren't as addictive and hard to shake as many other things out there, so your mileage may vary.
If you have any "crutches", bad habits and addictions, I recommend evaluating them. They are a weakness and an additional dependency. Think through how your crutch is effecting you today--think cost, health and relationship consequences. And then think through the potential consequences if you were suddenly forced to go cold turkey. Would you be incapacitated with headaches? Distracted by cravings? Driven to foolish decision making?
A SHTF event is not when you want to figure out the consequences of having a crutch forcefully removed.
Try to rid yourself of any of these bad habits in normal times, when you can more easily cope with the consequences of laying them aside.
