Habits are simply patterns of behaviour and most of the habits we do daily are in fact good for us, from cleaning our teeth to putting on our seat belt when in the car. Other habits are not so welcome although at some time and on some level would have served a purpose, these may include blushing, nail-biting, road rage, snacking, drinking too much, the list goes on.

Some habits we even force on ourselves, like smoking. As an ex smoker I can honestly say that I did not like the initial experience but persevered so as to be part of the gang but then got to the stage where I found it hard to stop.

When you have a habit/behaviour that is unwanted it can be difficult to shift. This is because habits are a learned process and once programmed by our subconscious the habit is automatic. Do something often enough and a habit/behaviour is created.

Normally people try to deal with unwanted behaviour by constantly telling themselves off: 'Now there I go again! Why do I keep doing the same silly things? I must be stupid, I know it's bad for me …' and it doesn't work.

The trouble with habits is that they are run by our unconscious minds - and the unconscious doesn't do logic. So even if our behaviour is bad for us or makes us feel silly the behaviour continues.

The good news is that NLP techniques are great for training your subconscious to do things differently, so can easily replace bad habits with desired habits.