Be the tortoise!
Nail biting is often a habit persisting over years, if not decades. Sometimes it starts in childhood, and resolves there. Sometimes it continues on into adulthood, and sometimes its onset isn't even until adult years.
Regardless of how the habit manifests, one thing rings true, it's a hard habit to break and takes effort and retraining. How often do we hear or wish that we could just "stop it"? It's a process, and through determination and a solid plan, you too can break the nail biting habit.
So how can you be the tortoise?
Have a plan
- Make a plan for how to stop biting your nails or cuticles. Be specific, and write it down (outlines are okay!).
- The plan should be actionable and achievable.
- Give yourself a reasonable timeline to see growth and feel the urge to bite recede.
- Find some tortoise buddies.
- Maybe their goals aren't the same as yours - maybe they're focusing on fitness, or their careers, or learning a new language - but surround yourself with positive, goal oriented people that are also focusing on success and happiness.
- Make it a habit to check in on their progress, and encourage them to do the same for you - be an accountabil-a-buddy!
- Pass on the short term satisfaction of biting for the long term satisfaction of healthy, confident nails.
- Understand that slip-ups can (and probably will) happen. Accept them and move on. Do not let a slip-up spiral out of control.
- You are awesome, and can do this!
We hope that this post will inspire others to take the tortoise approach to concurring their nail biting habits. Do you have any tortoise stories to share? Any additional tips or words of encouragement? Comment below!
For me, biting my nails is so passive. I don’t pay attention, and bam, there goes my nails. Thanks for the tips. I definitely need to work on small slip-ups giving me the excuse to go crazy on my nails.