I believe this approach can apply to any sort of habit that someone might wish to kick to the curb.

Sit down with pen & paper, you have two assignments!

#1 – Take 10 minutes (or longer) and explore a Pro vs. Con list, be honest with yourself and write anything down that comes to mind. The goal of this is to analyze (after you’re done of course) keywords that you notice. Explore how these words make you feel. Becoming more aware of your feelings about the subject will allow you to make new decisions on how you want to respond to them in the future.

#2 – Calculate your current habit, evaluate how much money you would save per week, per month, per year. Then begin brainstorming for fun and amazing things you can look forward to in your future. Start small…maybe you’d like to save up and buy dinner for someone special in your life, a new gadget, a new item of clothing. You can also think bigger…would the money savings equal a plane or train ticket somewhere in a year or so? Plan a trip! The reward system worked when you were a child and it will work again : )

Life is a crazy game of balancing everything. If you remove a bad habit, you need to replace it with a good habit. Take 20 minutes a day to work on a new hobby…drawing, painting, ceramics, knitting, an instrument, outdoor or indoor activity…anything. Before you know it you’ll be really good at something new. Good luck !

I’ve read a handful of solid articles here and some posts, but this is my First time post here. The subject of music is what grabbed my attention…and I most definitely can’t agree with the poster saying that metal brings depression into one’s life. You could very easily say cupcakes bring depression too if someone was emotionally engorging themselves on them during a time of crisis. Honestly, too much of anything can yield a Pavlovian response.

I think it is beautiful to feel both ends of the spectrum…happiness and sadness. With that said, music has the ability to encapsulate both of those and touch everything in between. Some of the most amazing songs ever produced were written after love or circumstantial tragedies that the person had experienced.

I believe your question is completely case dependent. I could see how an addictive personality would be affected by more depressive music though. I think that same person would probably feel some mental tweaking if all they listened to was K-Pop or happy hardcore or…yeah. There is plenty of metal out there that isn’t revolving around negative and painful feelings…not to mention plenty of amazing instrumentals.

I think your body and mind will tell you when you’ve had enough of a certain thing, just keep yourself open to noticing the hints…and check out all the other amazing genres out there : )

rock on \m/

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by bran.