Why habits matter more than motivation

Motivation is exciting, but it’s also unreliable. It comes and goes, often influenced by sleep, stress, weather, work, or life in general. Habits, on the other hand, don’t rely on how you feel in the moment.

One book we come back to often is Tiny Habits: Why Starting Small Makes Lasting Change by behavioural scientist BJ Fogg. His work reminds us that lasting change doesn’t come from willpower or big promises to ourselves, it comes from behaviours that feel easy enough to repeat, even on low-energy days.

Habits work because they reduce friction. They remove the need to negotiate with yourself every time.

 

Small habits work because they fit reality

It’s easy to believe that change needs to be dramatic to be meaningful. But in reality, habits stick when they:

• Are simple enough to begin without resistance
• Don’t require perfect conditions
• Can survive busy days, tired days, and off days

A habit that feels “too small” is often the one you’re most likely to keep.

Design habits around who you are

The most effective habits aren’t the most impressive ones, but they’re the ones that fit naturally into your life.

That might look like: 

• Moving for a few minutes instead of committing to a full session
• Making preparation easier by setting things out in advance
• Pairing a habit with something you already do

When habits work with you, not against you, consistency becomes far less effort. 

How habits really work: cue - routine - reward

As Charles Duhigg discusses in The Power of Habit, every habit has a structure:

Cue: something that triggers the behaviour

Routine: the behaviour itself

Reward: the thing that makes your brain want to repeat it

The rewards doesn't have to be huge, just something that feels like a sense of progress or satisfying. Maybe it is a cold plunge after a run or planning a route to end at your favourite coffee shop for a post coffee and pastry. 

The more satisfying the rewards, the most likely the habit sticks. 

This week try this:

• Choose one habit you want to build
• Make it easy so it feels accomplishable 
• Focus on repetition, rather than results
• Choose something to reward yourself with after to make the habit worth it

The goal isn't to transform overnight. It's to gradually build something sustainable that you can keep. 

 

Further reading on habits:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Keep Going by Austin Kleon