break the cycle
Verb
Meaning
break the cycle (third-person singular simple present breaks the cycle, present participle breaking the cycle, simple past broke the cycle, past participle broken the cycle)
(idiomatic) To act so as to end a repeating pattern of harmful or otherwise negative behavior.
Examples
The fastest way to break the cycle of perfectionism and become a fearless mother is to give up the idea of doing it perfectly - indeed to embrace uncertainty and imperfection.
We need to break the cycle where marginalized communities are hit the hardest by disasters and have the fewest resources to recover from crises and prepare for the next one.
Until we all start to take responsibility, until we do all we can to improve the character of our communities, we'll never break the cycle of violence and indifference.
The importance of heart health became very real for me when my father died of heart disease seven years ago. Having experienced the loss first hand, I am inspired to do everything I can to break the cycle and prevent families from losing loved ones to this preventable disease.
To be born into a family is to be, if I may say it this way, possessed. This possession is transmitted from generation to generation: the enchanted becomes the enchanter in projecting onto his children what was projected onto him-unless an awakening comes to break the cycle.
That's a lesson we can all learn: the more we have, the more we want. And the only cure is to break the cycle of relativity.