Forty Days to Break a Trait
A person was created to break his nature, and each stubborn trait yields to forty consecutive days of acting in its opposite.
In the sixteenth instruction of his Tzetel Katan, Reb Elimelech writes that a person was created in the world only to break his nature. He then gives a plan. Whoever is stubborn by nature should spend forty consecutive days doing the very opposite of whatever his first impulse says. Whoever is lazy should do everything with alacrity for forty days, from going to bed, to rising, to dressing and washing his hands. The shy should daven aloud and with strength, and the one whose speech comes out unclear should listen closely to his own words. One who is not steady in learning should learn a little more than usual and glance at the Tzetel Katan first. After this effort, the Rebbe promises, Heaven helps him continue breaking his bad middos until they are gone.
Source: Tzetel Katan, no. 16 (printed with Noam Elimelech)
Choose a single habit you wish were different: snapping at your family, putting things off, rushing through a bracha. Write down its opposite in one plain, doable action, such as pausing before you answer or doing the first task of the morning right away. Practice it every day for forty days and mark each day on a calendar. If you miss a day, simply start the next one. The Rebbe promises that after your effort, Heaven helps.