Cursing.
Swearing.
Whatever you want to call it, I do it a lot. This post is about how to stop cursing.
I can’t exactly explain why I do this so frequently, but it’s something that has occurred from a very young age.
The only remotely educated guess that I can make is that this (bad) habit started when I was young in an effort to get attention. And then it just stuck with me over the years.
For me to drop an f-bomb is like someone else saying the word pizza.
And yes, I know that’s horrible.
Line in the Sand
Something happened yesterday that made me draw somewhat of a “line in the sand” and come to grips with the fact that this behavior has to change.
I’m not sure if something unconsciously made our soon to be baby a bit more real, or if I hit some sore of new parent phase.
Whatever happened, I now have a large desire to stop letting the words slip out of my mouth. This isn’t an overnight type fix, but there’s three things I plan to put in place to help achieve the goal: make it public, become aware and charge myself a fee.
Make it Public
Just like when you go on a diet, it helps to let people know what your goals are.
In this instance, I want to stop using certain words and I’m making it known publicly.
This is happening by way of this blog post and by letting people that I’m frequently around know about the goal.
If for nothing else, letting folks know helps explain my/your potential outbursts such as, “Sh*t! I just accidently said f*@K!” Trust me, it gets some funny looks at first.
If you’re like me and trying to stop cursing, this is a good first step.
Become Aware
Making your goal public is step one, but becoming aware of what comes out of your mouth is just important. I list this as step two, but it really goes hand-in-hand with step one.
People that frequently curse do so without even realizing what’s coming out of their mouth. I know this sounds nuts, but it’s true.
For the frequent f-bombers out there, hearing the words come out of your mouth is crucial. By becoming aware of what you are saying and when you are saying these things, it will immediately help you reduce the number of times you curse throughout the day.
Now it’s time to discuss the more painful part of this process.
Charge Yourself a Fee
I’m giving myself one week to stick with Step 2. If I’m not seeing a drastic improvement (which I’m very skeptical of accomplishing in such a short time), I’m going to start charging myself money.
Yes. I will put a fee on cursing.
I’m thinking the fee will be $10 per curse word. At my current frequency, this could get very expensive. And that’s exactly the point. For me, finances hit home pretty quickly so this is the perfect form of punishment.
There’s more too it than just charging a fee though.
I will likely decide to give the money directly to my wife or creating a curse jar of sorts at the office. Either way, the money goes to other people. And that sucks.
There you have it. Three tips on how you can stop cursing. I’ll do an update on the topic in a few weeks to let you know my progress.
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