For me personally, when trying to break a bad habit or start a new habit, or deal with my anxiety disorder, the only thing that works for me seems to be to "just do it."
That may sound over-simplified, but it really is pretty much that simple. When I wanted to quit smoking after 15+ years of smoking over a pack a day, I had to just quit. I couldn't gradually reduce the amount of cigs I smoked a day. I had to go cold turkey. I had to suffer through the dizziness, the withdrawls, and just not ever have a cig. And to this day, I know that if I ever smoked a cigarette again, I'd start back up on a daily habit. So I make a daily choice not to smoke.
When I wanted to lose weight. I used MyFitnessPal app to track all my calories and exercise. When I did that, I lost 30 lbs. Everyone knows that the formula for losing weight is to burn more calories than you take in. When I quit doing that, I've gained weight. It's that simple. If I had continued doing that, I would've continued to lose weight.
When I am in a deep depression or having daily panic attacks. I have to do the things that my mind is telling me not to do. My mind is telling me it's dangerous to get off the couch, or drive, or go to the store, or be around people, or sleep. So that's what I have to do. I have to do those things to prove to my mind that they are really ok, and that it's not going to kill me after all. When I stop doing those things and submit to my fear, things never get better. They only get worse.
This has been said a thousand different ways by a thousand different people: "Nothing worth having comes easy." "No pain, no gain.", ect. ect. I prefer to tell myself "just do it" -- whatever "it" is. Because the thing is, you can complain or worry or make 1000 different excuses as to why and at the end of all that, all you've done is delay yourself for another day from meeting your goal.
I don't pretend to be perfect by a long shot, nor will I pretend that I always "just do it." But I can say, that when I'm serious about making a change in my life, I find that "just doing it" always works. This formula has never failed me.
