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Ask yourself if you really want to commit yourself fully to this. Sleep on it, and ask yourself again, before you half commit. Do you really want to change this habit? It will come with difficulty, falling on your face, and a new way of seeing yourself. Is this something you want?

If the answer is absolutely yes … then commit yourself fully. Be all in. Set a Quit Date for 3 days from now.

Tell others about your commitment and ask them to hold you accountable. Promise to report to them every day or every week. Be as committed to this as you’ve been to anything in your life — your marriage, your kids, your job, your best friend.

Then take the actions below.

Change Your Environment

On your Quit Date, take action to cut off easy access to your compulsive habit — throw out the cigarettes or cookies, have a friend change the password to your favorite shopping sites, use a site blocker that you don’t have the ability to change, delete the apps from your phone.

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Change your environment, so that you aren’t likely to do the old habit. Ask people who live and work with you to hold you accountable. I’ve told my kids they can smack me if they see me eat cookies, and they gleefully agree! I’ve asked people to hide the router until I finish writing a book chapter. I’ve gone to a coffee shop to write a book and told my family I wouldn’t come home until it’s done.

Making it hard to do the old compulsive habit is called “Creating a Moat.” Don’t let your future self, at a moment of weakness, have an easy time of falling back into the old habit. Make it easier to stick to the new habit, even if it’s not especially easy.