Are you one of those people, that have all good intentions to start a new habit and you come out of the starting blocks, all guns blazing only to find yourself back where you started a short while later.

It’s the habits repeated daily that influence our health, wealth, and happiness. So it makes sense to get good at this. As 40-50% of what we do day to day is unconscious (habitual), if some of those patterns of behaviour aren’t giving you the results you want then now is the time to apply the strategies explored in this podcast to change them.

Breaking bad habits and building new ones is a path filled with challenge and triumph. With determination and the right strategies, you can change old habits that no longer serve you and replace them with ones that do!

In this episode we will explore how habits are formed, why it's so hard to change them and then equip you with some very simple strategies to break bad habits and build great ones (that stick).

Whether you're ditching a vice or adopting a healthier routine, know that your efforts will steer you towards a brighter, more fulfilling future. Stay focused, apply these strategies, and celebrate even the smallest of victories along the way.

In this episode we explore topics such as:

• How habits are formed and why its so hard to break them
• The impact of your environment on habitual behaviours
• Flicking the switch of old behaviours that no longer serve you
• How to build a positive system of habits that last
• Cue, craving, response, and reward
• Habit stacking and tracking
• Preventing self-sabotage
• Staying accountable

“Our emotional brain is there to protect us, and it's constantly scanning for danger, I think, something like five times a second. So if something feels more difficult to do, we're going to choose the path of least resistance. Which quite often, for me, is the chocolate box.”

“We've got really simple strategies. The challenge is that you need to be disciplined in applying them. As long as you follow the process, you can change any habit you like.”

“Your environment provides the stimulation. So we've got to reduce that stimulation by changing the environment.”

“By stacking it to something you're already doing, you're removing the friction or the chance of not doing it.”

“Easy and fun gets done” Colin Hiles

Useful links to books and resources mentioned in this episode:

• James Clear – Atomic Habits
• Charles Duig – The Power of Habit
• Benjamin Hardy – Willpower Doesn’t Work
• Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Fast and Slow
• Colin Hiles – The Habit Coach App