How do I stop walking the way I walk and damaging my shoes?

You would need to see a podiatrist. I am not sure your walk can be changed once you reach adulthood.

I have a similar problem and have to buy new shoes more frequently than I would like. If you can find a shoe repair man they can sometimes rebuild the heels. It is a tough problem especially as my feet hurt more when the heels are worn out. Seeing a podiatrist is a good start.

A shoemaker can put taps on the heals so they don’t wear as fast. Do you feel a need to correct how you stand and walk? Do you have foot, leg, or back pain from it? I wear my shoes out, the heals, on the outer edges. New Balance sneakers analyzes these types of tendencies and makes sneakers to help balance you out if you are interested.

If adults can learn to dance, then they can learn to walk differently. I’m not convinced of the former, however.

Seriously, I would think that a personal trainer or coach of some kind (maybe even a physical therapist, in an extreme case) could assist you with drills and exercises that you could do until you modified your gait. I’d work on that, rather than attempting to fix or modify shoes in an unusual way to correct a different (correctable) problem.

Adults can learn to walk differently, no problem. See a podiatrist.

Yes, you can learn to walk differently, it takes a while to re-pattern, but it’s not hard at all.
Something you can do at home is to take off your shoes, and just experience your feet.

Start with simple weight shifts, and then go into very slow walks. Keep breathing, and experience the transfer of weight from heel to the ball of your foot. You will also notice that it’s not just your feet that are involved, but also legs, hips, center muscles, etc.

If your problem is the heels wearing out, I would also suggest the following exercise:
– Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and be aware of the top of your head.
– Imagine a string tugging the top of your head. Let everything else relax downwards, so in effect, your body just hangs there, like a T-shirt on a coat hanger.
– Feel your chest opening up, and then also your back. Imagine a sensation like opening a window to the world.
– Keep that constant sense of up and move slowly. You will notice that your feet are lighter.
– You can also imagine yourself walking softly, like say among clouds. Note how your body readjusts itself to place your weight down lightly.

Somewhere along the way, you’ve managed to pattern yourself with excess tension, so by doing it slowly, you might be able to identify where the exact problem is But the point is not to be too cerebral about it; the point is to experience it fully and trust your body to readjust.

There are schools of thought like the Alexander technique or Feldenkrais that work with alignment / mind-body connection to free up excess tension and increase sensitivity; but something that everyone can do I think, is just to taste your movement, and in doing so, to help your body identify excess tension and repattern itself.

Because of the way you walk, you may need to wear flats when you walk, and carry dress shoes to change into a work. You may want to have your posture checked. If you work on strengthening your core muscles, you can improve your posture, and theoretically improve how you walk. (no first hand knowledge of this, but the guy who works at the running shoe store imparted this bit of knowledge to the woman next to me.)