Marcus Huibers: Supervisory Board member

‘Because I like the people’ is my top answer when I get asked why I co-founded Kick your Habits in 2011 and said goodbye to my life as a GP. During my work as a GP, I often noticed that habits/addictions are a very important factor for many problems. It made more sense for me to tackle those issues instead of focusing on the newest drug on the market to combat high blood pressure. Even better: for me, there’s something emotionally touching when it comes to ‘the addicted’. They are often very sensitive, they struggle with the demands and expectations of our production-focused society. There’s no room to be vulnerable; you have to be tough, strong, and beautiful. In those cases, drinking, smoking, eating and snorting become a welcome distraction. Unfortunately, those instant ‘solutions’ can start to control you.

What I see time and time again during our treatments is how strongly and how quickly you change someone’s life for the better when you start working towards replacing a bad habit/addiction with more joyful habits. -if you can keep it up.. 😉

We prefer to talk about ‘bad habits’ rather than addictions. This is not an attempt to trivialise the problem, but we aim to emphasise the fact that change is possible and that you can gain so much by doing so.

I also believe that we have a societal duty:
The power of social media and the fact that our social life has become so interconnected with stimulants has made it much easier to become a victim of less-than-desirable habits. Yet, it remains a taboo.

Kick your Habits wants to work towards a more sustainable world in which we can acknowledge our own vulnerabilities. We wish to strive towards a humble society, where balance and letting go can co-exist.