“I will cultivate healthy habits and eventually become their slave.” Thus said from the Scroll 1, of the hugely popular book by Og Mandino, which is one of my favorite books of all time. Indeed, to commit ourselves to something, we have to start breaking bad habits and develop new ones.

I read somewhere that as adults, we tend to become slaves to our habits. As human as we are, we have bad habits that we want to let go of, and there are also tons of ways to break them. Okay, for one, how about cursing? Are you guilty of this bad habit? Well, most of us are–cursing may actually begin at a very early age.

It can actually start from home, when the child becomes exposed to cussing and swearing most of the time. But now, as an adult, you want to be a better you, so what do you do? First, you have got to pay attention. Whenever you utter those indecent and scandalous words, drop some money into a jar.

Even if you need it for your cigarettes, just place money in there. This will instill in your mind that each time you have bad habits, it will cost you money. If you thought you practically tried everything, from replacing less offensive words, having a “swear jar” to counseling, I recommend this painful alternative only as a last resort.

Note: This one is not recommended for kids or teenagers; only responsible adults could take this sort of conditioning. This can be likened to Pavlov’s classical conditioning so that his dogs can work. Place a rubber band on your wrist and each time you curse, snap it. Just don’t snap it so hard that it marks—just do it hard enough till you learn and get the point.

And how about nail biting? If you think only kids are guilty of this, think again. Even famous adult personalities admit to biting their nails. Even CNN’s Anderson Cooper is one of them. Maybe some people do it whenever they feel fidgety or nervous. Whatever your reasons are, when you bite your nails, it’s not a hygienic practice. Remember that.

Just think of all that dirt coming into contact with your mouth. Plus, it injures your nails and fingertips. But you just want to say goodbye to your bad habits, and nail biting is one of them. What to do? You can keep your nails short and polished. When you look at your well-groomed and trimmed nails, what a shame it would be just to chew them off, don’t you think? And try to take your manicure to a higher level, like trying to go to a professional manicurist to prettify your tips.

Then, remind yourself that you’re literally chewing $20 off your precious finger. I’m sure you don’t want to waste your money just to satisfy your bad habits; your job is to fight your bad habits and not to be enslaved by them.