How might I move a bit away from an addictive behaviour?

 Moving a bit away from an addictive behavior has been found to involve multiple layers — mental, emotional, and behavioral. What has been shown to be a bit helpful on this path is:

Developing a Bit of an Understanding of What Drives the Behavior.
In The Biology of Desire, Marc Lewis explains that addiction is likely less a disease and probably more a form of deep learning. It often started from a place of seeking relief or pleasure in what I saw as a difficult world. When I understand a bit more that my brain is trying to help me cope — just in a way that backfires — it might help to soften my inner resistance to change and give me a bit of acceptance compassion and space for my own process.

Changing a Habit Loop I Operate Under.
Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit outlines the habit loop: cue → routine → reward. What I find helpful is putting in a bit of effort to identify what is tending to trigger a behavior in me, then experimenting with inserting a healthier routine that offers a better outcome or a similar reward — like relief, distraction, or connection.

Rewiring My Identity a Bit.
James Clear in Atomic Habits shares that a small action tends to compound and reinforce a bit of my identity. When I choose one small behavior each day that aligns with who I prefer to be — rather than just what I want to stop or reduce — I might start to see myself a bit differently. This might tend to help a behaviour change feel a bit more likely and feel a bit more of a stable process.

Practicing a Bit More Self-Compassion Rather Than Control.
In The Science of Stuck, Britt Frank suggests that feeling stuck is other than a flaw — it is likely a sign something inside of me would benefit from understanding or acceptance. As I stop trying to control or crush an addictive urge and instead get curious about what it was trying to protect me from, I might feel a bit less afraid of it and be a bit more able to allow myself to grow.

Using a bit of Self-Hypnosis or Visualization
Some have found that self-hypnosis or a guided visualization practice has helped reprogram a subconscious pattern. Melvin Powers' Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis offers a structured way to train the mind toward a new behavior with less of a suggestion of force. A meditation practice and gratitude have been shown to be helpful. Relaxation, understanding, acceptance.

One of these steps — understanding, experimenting, reframing, practicing, and exploring — might gently enable me to move in a bit more helpful direction. What I’ve found is that even a small shift can move past inertia, and from there, a bit more movement becomes possible in my mind.

How might it help me as I choose to explore one of these areas a bit more deeply?