Reddit reviews You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taki ng Control of Your Life

This book is one I have been reading and may be helpful. It does seem to mostly be an endless reiteration of these four steps which since I have a copy in front of me I'll just partially transcribe them and you can see if it's something you're into.

Step 1: RELABEL-identify your deceptive brain messages...

Step 2:REFRAME-change your perception of the importance of the deceptive brain messages...

Step 3:REFOCUS-direct your attention toward an activity or mental process that is wholesome and productive...

Step 4:REVALUE-Clearly see the thoughts,urges and impulses for what they are...

That's the basic gist of it, I'm not affiliated with the authors in any way nor am I encouraging you to buy the book, I checked it out from the library. Also you might try brushing without toothpaste as I believe it is the abrasives that pose the greatest threat to your enamel, so if you can sate your addiction without the paste it'll probably pose less of a threat to your dental health. Best wishes.

It helps a lot! Thank you! I didn't even notice that I was still being hard on myself even after admitting to my accomplishments. It seems that that's another bad habit I'm going to have to break.

Your points all hit home for me. You managed to articulate all the ideas that were floating around in my head that I just couldn't grasp. Setting priorities, small manageable goals, so long as I don't want to travel to middle earth, then my dreams are attainable depending on the effort that I can put into them. Have I understood you correctly?

You've helped me plenty, now I hope this helps you; I used to be a really heavy smoker (3 packs of Marlboro reds daily) and I reached a point where I honestly could not imagine life without cigarettes, or without me smoking. I tried plenty of times to quit and failed, using all kinds of methods (gum, patches, cold turkey, incremental quitting) I still failed. What got me to quit once and for all was a book called You Are Not Your Brain. This is what got through to me and truly convinced me that smoking was a meaningless behavior. That's the thing about such addictions, you have to be convinced in your own terms about quitting. So what worked with me might not work with you. Either way, I haven't had a cigarette since December and I feel no need to.

Stick with it. You really can do this. Just find a way to convince yourself.

Thanks again.

try these four steps method by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz

http://hope4ocd.com/foursteps.php



If you can't open that page , here's a quick summary:

Step 1: RELABEL
Recognize that the intrusive obsessive thoughts and urges are the RESULT OF OCD.

Step 2: REATTRIBUTE
Realize that the intensity and intrusiveness of the thought or urge is CAUSED BY OCD; it is probably related to a biochemical imbalance in the brain.

Step 3: REFOCUS
Work around the OCD thoughts by focusing your attention on something else, at least for a few minutes: DO ANOTHER BEHAVIOR.

Step 4: REVALUE
Do not take the OCD thought at face value. It Is not significant in itself.




Here are some books that helped me:

You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life

http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Not-Your-Brain/dp/1583334262/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp/0143113100/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

I found I'm on the computer everyday for too many hours. This book http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Not-Your-Brain/dp/1583334262 has helped me a lot.

After listening to the audiobook (quite long, but i see the point in the book being repetitive), I have basically formed these rules for myself:

1. no computer between 8pm and 8am in the morning.
   
2. use computers in 20 minute intervals. Use a kitchen timer so that at the end of each interval you can look back and see how your time on the computer is being spent. (ties in with the pomodoro technique).
   
3. self-block reddit/twitter/facebook on work computers