Many people, when troubled with life’s little annoyances, engage in a variety of “nervous habits” such as, nail biting, hair pulling, rapid blinking, tics and stuttering. These behaviors often become “contextualized” so that an individual is unaware of their occurrence. Unfortunately, this is not also true of the viewing public. 
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 Displaying your “habit” may lead to ridicule or withdrawal. You may feel embarrassed or humiliated. Moreover, these behaviors may interfere with your job. Imagine a manicurist with badly chewed nails, or a hair dresser with patches of hair missing from his scalp or beard; or an optometrist who blinks constantly. Consider being a public official and stuttering or clearing your throat frequently.
 
 In some cases, the habit may be so well-practiced that professional help may be required. For others, simply following these suggestions for “unpracticing” nervous habits might be sufficient to produce change. “Unpracticing” means identifying what occurs just before the habit, some of the inconvenient consequences that result and some “competing responses” to help overcome the problem.
 
 Specifically, the following suggestions may help:

• 1. Identify preconditions. What, exactly, were you experiencing just before the habit occurred? Consider this over a period of days and use these “cues” to anticipate the onset of the habit.
• 2. Awareness. What exactly does it look like (or sound like, or feel like) to you? To others? Keep a mirror available. Ask friends you can trust for feedback.
• 3. Inconvenient consequences. Write answers to several important questions: Has the habit interfered with work? Dating? Being seen in public? What specifically does the habit prevent you from doing (i.e., extending your hands, speaking, etc.)? Have you sought treatment? How long have you had the habit? What is the most embarrassing thing about it?
• 4. Competing reactions. Basically, this refers to replacing one behavior with another at the times you usually engage in the first. For example, when you have the urge to pressure to stationery objects or fold your hands, instead. Eye blinking occurs out of someone’s control. Try gaining that control by doing it rhythmically every five seconds. For shoulder “tics”, concentrate on locking the shoulder in place. Picture having already done so and get in touch with what that would “feel” like. If you stutter, try speaking very slowly, pausing after each word. Exaggerate, if possible, using a mirror to observe these competing reactions.
• 5. Desired State. Try to imagine how, specifically, you could see yourself “being different” if you did not have a particular habit. In your scene, imagine “doing something else”, and the effects this change would have on other aspects of your life. For example, a “nail-biter” might imagine being in a room full of business people, with clean hands and manicured nails, while others engaged him with conversation and approving glances. Consider your “scene” often, as you breathe slowly and relax.

 Learn to orchestrate these individual steps so they streamline, “inside” and become as much a “habit” as the unwanted behavior. Watch for the cues which seem to precede the habit. Concentrate on how it appears. Then, while engaging in a competing reaction, simultaneously let yourself think of all the inconveniences your habit may cause you. Imagine how you would appear, differently; and how this would affect other aspects of your life, if you did not have the unwanted habit. These steps may seem awkward, at first. However, like any habit, they will eventually occur effortlessly (i.e., automatically). Unpracticing requires practice! Try it. You may find yourself less a prisoner of a nervous habit.