Episode: 221
Build Amazing Habits: Simple Steps to Break Bad Habits & Make Good Ones Stick
a Solo Episode
Struggling to make habits stick? It’s not you—it’s your strategy.
Mel tells you the 3 biggest mistakes you are likely making when trying to change your behavior and why it’s not about willpower.
This episode will help you beat your next urge to doom scroll, snack, smoke, or self-sabotage.
This is the breakthrough you've been waiting for!
Listen on:
If you want to change your life, act like the person you want to become.
Mel Robbins
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Key takeaways
Your brain is wired to repeat whatever you do. So every time you hit snooze or scroll, you're training it to keep doing exactly that.
The secret to sticking with habits isn’t motivation, it’s making them easier and more automatic than the crap you’re trying to quit.
A habit becomes “real” when it has a cue, a routine, and a reward. If you skip one, the habit won’t stick.
Want to break a bad habit? Interrupt the pattern: move your phone, change the environment, disrupt the autopilot.
The best time to start a new habit is when something changes: a move, a new job, even Monday morning. Fresh starts rewire your focus.
Resources
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- Healthline: Habits Matter More Than You Might Think - These Tips Can Help the Good Ones Stick
- Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience: Habit formation
- Behavioral Scientist: “Good Habits, Bad Habits: A Conversation with Wendy Wood”
- Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit
- James Clear: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- James Clear: How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick
- James Clear: Keystone Habits: The Simple Way to Improve All Aspects of Your Life
- University College London: Philippa Lally’s research on habits
- European Journal of Social Psychology: How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world
- Healthline: Breaking Down the Habit Loop
- Appetite: Breaking habits or breaking habitual behaviors? Old habits as a neglected factor in weight loss maintenance
- Psychology Today: Behavioral Activation
- Clinical Psychology Review: What is behavioral activation? A review of the empirical literature
- The Journal of Neuroscience: Dopaminergic Mechanisms in Actions and Habits
