1. Identify the root of the habit
Biting your nails, is it really just biting your nails, or is it calming down from feeling anxious.
2. Become aware of the habit
Start by just taking a week to observe yourself engage the habit loop. Take note of what triggers it, and contemplate on why the habit occurs.
3. Find a replacement and add an awardYou do tend to bite your nails when you get anxious and use it to calm down, maybe a better solution is to do 10 push-ups or meditate for 5 minutes.
4. Reward yourself.
After a trigger is pulled, when you do successfully follow the new habit loop, give yourself a reward like a cookie or some other treat you love and crave (unless you’re trying to eat healthier and lose weight and crave a cookie, not that.) Doing this helps lock in the new habit and soon you’ll find you won’t need the reward anymore.
5. Don’t stress if you fail
It’s okay to regress, just commit to trying again, and again, and again, until the new habit loop is so ingrained that you wouldn’t even consider biting their nails.