How to Change Your Habits

Build Good Habits

How to Change Your Habits

Over my career, I've watched my clients transform their bodies and mindsets, and I’ve realised that fat loss and muscle gain are not the hard parts. Habit change is the hard part. If you can change your habits, you change your life. Here’s how I approach it with clients.

Understanding Yourself & Spotting Habits

Before you change a habit, you need to notice it.

Why do you always check your phone? Is it boredom? Stress? or even a reflex?

Do you snack because you're hungry… or because you're avoiding something?

A lot of our behaviours are automatic. Research found that around 40–45% of our daily behaviours are habitual, meaning they happen without conscious decision-making [1].

That means nearly half your day is on autopilot.

As a coach, I’ll often ask clients to simply track behaviour for a week — no change, just awareness. When you shine a light on a habit, it loses some of its power.

Set Doable Goals

If you’re starting from scratch, don’t tell me you’re going to train 6 days a week and prep every meal.

Research consistently shows that small, achievable goals increase long-term adherence compared to aggressive targets. In fact, a study showed that setting achievable behavioural goals significantly improved long-term weight loss maintenance [2].

So, starting with just a 20-minute walk, three times per week is a good way to focus on sustainability rather than intensity.

Repetition Rewires Your Brain

A study found that it takes on average 66 days for a new behaviour to become automatic — but the range was huge (18 to 254 days) depending on the person and the behaviour [3].

Every time you repeat a behaviour, you're strengthening a neural pathway. Over time, that pathway becomes automatic. Consistency is what changes physiques, blood markers, confidence and performance.

Get Support (You’re Not Meant to Do It Alone)

A review published in Obesity Reviews found that social support significantly improves weight-loss outcomes and long-term maintenance [4].

I’ve seen it time and time again when people who try to go solo struggle more than those with support. This could be having a training partner, your partner at home, a WhatsApp group, or of course… a personal trainer like myself.

Having someone who expects you to show up changes behaviour.

Dealing With Setbacks (This Is Where Most People Quit)

You missed a workout. You overate. You skipped your walk.

Research on self-compassion shows that individuals who respond to setbacks with understanding rather than harsh self-criticism are more likely to resume goal-directed behaviour [5]. So, beating yourself up about it wouldn't build discipline, it would build avoidance.

Analyse, adjust, and move forward.

The Superpower Before Reaction

One of the most underrated skills in habit change is mindfulness, and the ability it gives you to be able to pause and rethink before making the wrong decision.

Mindfulness training has been shown to significantly improve self-regulation and reduce impulsive behaviour. A meta-analysis found mindfulness-based interventions improved behavioural regulation and emotional control [6].

You don’t need to meditate for an hour, you just need the ability to stop for 5 seconds before acting.

Celebrate the Wins

Research shows that celebrating small progress increases dopamine reinforcement and strengthens behaviour repetition. Recognising incremental progress improves motivation and persistence [7].

Think that if you hit 3 walks this week, then that's actually a small win. The same goes for if you chose water instead of Coke, or went to bed early rather than scrolling on Instagram until 1am. These all count as wins.

Ready to Change Your Habits?

You don’t need to change your whole life overnight, you just need to make a small change today, and then do it again tomorrow.

Contact me to learn more.