Are You Holding Onto a Habit Because of Someone Else’s Opinion?

How habits can become a subconscious form of resistance

Are You Holding Onto a Habit Because of Someone Else’s Opinion?

One of the most interesting patterns I see in my work, especially with habits like smoking or weight-related behaviors, is this:

Sometimes people aren’t holding onto a habit because they want to.

They’re holding onto it because letting it go would feel like giving power to someone else.

That “someone” might still be in their life. Or it might be someone from years ago. Either way, the subconscious treats the influence as if it’s still happening now.

How Habits Become a Subconscious Form of Resistance

The subconscious mind doesn’t track time the way the conscious mind does. It doesn’t always recognize that a relationship has ended or that a voice from the past no longer has authority.

So if, at some point, someone criticized your habit or your body, your subconscious may still be responding to that person.

For example:

If a parent or partner repeatedly criticized your weight, your subconscious may resist change because losing weight would feel like proving them right.

If someone constantly nagged you about smoking, your subconscious may cling to the habit as an act of quiet defiance.

Even when you genuinely want to change, the subconscious may be running an old program that says, “If I stop, they win.”

When Changing a Habit Isn’t About the Habit

I once worked with a woman who had tried to quit smoking many times without success. She wanted to stop, but every attempt felt strangely difficult.

In hypnosis, it became clear that her ex-husband had spent years criticizing her smoking. Giving it up felt less like a personal choice and more like agreeing with him.

Once we helped her subconscious remove him from the equation, the resistance disappeared. Quitting became about her health and her autonomy, not his opinion.

I’ve seen the same dynamic play out with weight, food, and other habits.

One client wanted to lose weight, but her partner had framed it as a condition for moving forward in their relationship. Her subconscious resisted change because it felt like surrendering control over her body.

The work wasn’t about food or discipline. It was about boundaries and self-ownership.

How Hypnotherapy Helps Resolve Habit-Based Resistance

When I work with habits, I’m not focused on forcing behavior change.

I’m interested in understanding what the subconscious is protecting.

Once the subconscious recognizes that the habit isn’t serving autonomy, safety, or self-respect anymore, it no longer needs to hold onto it.

Change stops feeling like a battle and starts feeling like a choice.

A Question Worth Asking

If you’ve struggled to change a habit, it’s worth asking:

Am I holding onto this because it truly serves me, or because I refuse to let someone else have power over me?

When that question is answered at the subconscious level, habits often resolve naturally.

If this resonates, you’re welcome to explore it further.

Book a free consultation:https://www.lindasevilla.com/free-consultation

For Those Interested in Learning This Work

If you’re curious about how the subconscious creates and maintains habits, and how to work with those patterns effectively, this is exactly the kind of thinking taught in my training.

You can explore the first two units of the Whole Brain Hypnotherapy Training here:https://www.horizoncenterhypnotherapy.com/free-trial