I never really thought about whether or not I was opinionated, or offered my opinions whether they be solicited or unsolicited, until I was challenged not to offer opinions.

Of course this didn’t mean I couldn’t have opinions. We all do, but I understood that I was to keep them to myself. Piece of cake I thought. Oh how wrong I was.

Not only do I have opinions, but I started to realize how frequently I expressed them. Whether it be in thought to myself, verbally to a friend or associate, or written online through various social media posts.

I found it was a difficult habit to break because it had become part of the very fabric of my being. And, not necessarily a very nice one at that.

I believe that the reason for this is that we are inundated with opinions from a very early age. Do you remember what happens during those first seven years? They are called the ‘formative’ years for a reason.

We are constantly hearing the opinions of our parents, our relatives, our teachers, our friends, the media, and so on. It’s no wonder that we grow up with opinions. And in many cases very strong ones.

My first thought was about why I share my opinions. Is it to have something to talk about? Is it to sound knowledgeable? Is it because I believe I’m right and you’re wrong? Is it to change another person’s opinion? Is it all of the above? Most likely all of the above is the correct answer. Ouch!

My second thought was about how I was going to go about changing the habit of sharing my opinion. I’ve learned that in order to remove a bad habit I need to insert a good habit in its place.

After giving it some earnest thought I came to the conclusion that I would replace opinion sharing with not sharing. For now I could still have the opinion in thought but I would no longer verbalize it to anyone or write it out in any social media posts.

I felt that by doing it this way I would develop the good habit of not sharing in order to replace the bad habit of sharing.

In addition, my subconscious mind would soon realize that there was no point in developing an opinion because it wasn’t going to be shared so eventually the new habit would take hold.

But, what would the new habit of not sharing entail? I would create a pleasant mental thought or image to replace the opinion.

I will say that it hasn’t been easy, but in recognizing the bad habit of opinion sharing as it’s starting to occur, I’m able to nip it in the bud and replace it with the good habit of creating a pleasant thought or mental picture. The best part… it works.