It sounds cheesy, but the process used by “Rational Recovery” to get people off booze and drugs works really well for kicking all kinds of bad habits. (It’s not as good at getting you to do something, such as go running.)

I use the public domain version of their idea, which can be reduced down to CORE: Commit, Objectify, Respond, Enjoy.

You Commit to giving up the bad habit. (They say to do it just to yourself, but I find it’s far more effective if you tell others, too. That outside accountability helps.)

When you find yourself craving it, you realize that it’s not really the rational “you” that wants the bad thing. It’s a base part of your brain that you need to control. You turn “you” want it into “it” wants it, objectifying the craving and turning it into an unwelcome intruder in your thoughts.

You Respond to the intruder, by saying “No. I’m in charge, buddy, not you.” You reassert your rational, planning self’s dominance over your desires.

And you make sure to Enjoy your lifestyle— the increased sense of well-being and mastery that comes with your control. Never forget that.

Now, all this might be based on bogus psychology or neuroscience, but it works. Really well. And it doesn’t involve some “turn yourself over to a higher power” mumbo-jumbo. If anything, it’s a bit disturbingly Nietzschean.