A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit.
-- Erasmus
It seems to me that acknowledging this is part of how we become free from things that strangle us. And, it takes a while...to get things pounded out of us. For new habits to be formed within us.
When I think about things in my life years ago, versus things in my life now, I notice that a process was underway the whole time. As much as I pleaded with God to solve for certain things within me in the moment, he did so in a way and at a pace that provided for substantive change -- a truly new habit, one that I didn't even realize I was praying for.
