As you become an adult and enter college, you realize that there are bad habits that you may have picked up throughout your childhood. In my case, I’ve relied on my mom to wake me up in the morning, my whole entire life. I have also relied on my mom to get me places on time and help me get stuff done. It’s normal if you have parents or guardians that were always getting you ready and helping you maintain your life. So, when you get older and they start to slow down or stop doing these things for you, it may be hard to adjust.

When I started high school, things changed. My mom didn’t wake me up anymore, and honestly, such a little detail in my life was very important. I am always late – a bad habit I picked up in high school and something I’m still having a hard time getting over. I’ve noticed a few of these bad habits lingering around since I first started college and when I sat down with myself, I looked within, and that’s when I had the urge to do something about it. So here’s how I unlearned a bad habit in four steps.

The first step for me in unlearning a bad habit is to do some self-reflection. I remember multiple nights laying in the dark wondering why. Why am I like this and how can I change? I had to be honest with myself and that was hard to do but necessary for reaching my goal. I sat down and realized that I’m lazy. I procrastinate all my time and I like to make excuses for myself. Even worse is that I’m in my head a lot, which means I usually think about what I’m supposed to do, come up with ways to do it, but never get it done. That’s the honest truth and it still holds true to this day. Self-reflection is needed so you can get a better understanding of who you really are and not the person you tell yourself you are.

The next step is research. You have to find what works best for you and that takes a lot of time to figure out. The bad habit that I wanted to work on first was waking up late. Even though I have many others, this was what I needed to learn first so that I could get up for school and work. I got my research from different apps. I figured out that if I broaden my research, I can find more methods that might help me and that I can easily implement into my life.

I listened to YouTube videos about rearranging your life, organization, unlearning bad habits, healthy habits, adulting 101, setting goals, etc. I also used google. I have googled things about a million times and have seen different methods and learned new techniques. I have the Pinterest app on my phone which uses different photos to teach you how to develop good habits and routines. I worked on combining all of these things I learned to create a routine that works for me. I have a morning routine that I stick by, but developing a nighttime routine has been difficult for me. Hopefully, I’ll get there soon. My morning routine consists of a motivational YouTube video to wake me up. I clean my room (if needed), shower, brush my teeth, put on a face mask, drink some tea, then get ready to go. Now, that sounds simple enough and doesn’t seem so important, but to me, this routine is needed to maintain my sanity and to help calm my anxiety. When I don’t do my routine, the day usually ends up being terrible and I regret it every time. That morning routine took years of trial and error to figure out what would work best for me and my schedule.

My third step is planning. In my case, I had to set alarms on my phone to get me up. I would plan out what I would wear in my head so when I woke up it was easy to find. I had to go to bed early so that I could wake up the next day early. Since I still have to work on my nighttime routine, my planning is not fully set yet.

The last and most important step is to never give up. I am still having trouble waking up and I don’t always follow this routine. It’s something that I struggle with because I could always sleep through the day, but I stay up pretty much until sunrise. I’m not sure if its an internal clock thing, but I’ve been like that since my childhood. Even when I was in the womb I was like that. My mom said that she would have all the energy in the world at night, but in the mornings she would sleep nonstop. My mom is definitely the complete opposite of me, so I know that was baby me shining through. I have seen the progress over the years before I found the YouTube videos. I was very unmotivated and nothing seemed to work. I hated school, which isn’t like me because I like to learn new things, but since I found these motivational videos I always try to get up when I fall. The motivational videos help me to remember that. I’m in this big learning/unlearning process in hopes of becoming the person that I see myself as in my head; my higher self. So, since I want to merge with my higher self, I have to heal and go through a process of rebirth and hopefully become her.