10 June 2025
We all know that good habits are the key to success, but why is it so difficult to create them and stay consistent? We start with enthusiasm – the first few days we are motivated, strict, and confident that “this time it will work.” But after a week or two, motivation fades, old habits creep back, and we tell ourselves, “Maybe it’s just not the right time…”
The truth? It’s not about discipline or willpower, it’s about the right strategy.
Habits are created and managed in the basal ganglia – a complex of structures deep in the brain that play a key role in controlling motor functions, decision-making, and the formation of automatic behaviors. The more repetitions, the stronger the connection between these three elements, and the habit becomes automated.
When we repeat the same action many times, the basal ganglia optimize the process, turning it into an automatic response. This allows us to perform repetitive activities with minimal effort, without consciously thinking about them each time. For example, when you learn to ride a bike, at first, you have to carefully coordinate every movement, but over time these movements become natural – this is the result of the basal ganglia’s work.
With each repetition of an action, neurons in the basal ganglia create stronger connections, which are strengthened over time. This process is called neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize by strengthening frequently used neural pathways and eliminating unused ones. Additionally, dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for motivation and reward, plays a huge role in reinforcing habits. When we perform an action that the brain interprets as beneficial (such as exercising, eating, or even scrolling on social media), the basal ganglia release dopamine, making us repeat that behavior again.
As a result, the more often we perform a particular action, the easier and more automatic it becomes, because the brain recognizes it as beneficial and conserves energy by allowing us to do it with minimal effort.
The first few times you do a new action, the brain “resists” – it requires more energy because there is no stable connection between the neurons yet.
After about 4-6 weeks, automation begins – the action is performed with less effort, but there’s still a risk of falling back into old habits.
After 2-3 months (if you stay consistent), the habit becomes “natural” – the brain perceives it as part of your normal routine and performs it with minimal effort.
We’ve all heard the myth that it takes 21 days to form a habit. The truth is that scientific data shows otherwise. This idea comes from the book “Psycho-Cybernetics” by plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz, who in the 1960s noticed that his patients got used to their new appearance in about three weeks. However, this has nothing to do with the actual formation of habits.
A study from University College London found that the average time to form a lasting habit is 66 days, but the range varies from 18 to 254 days, depending on the complexity of the habit.
When a habit is no longer practiced, the neural connections supporting it begin to weaken – a process known as “synaptic pruning.” This is a natural brain mechanism that removes unused information to make room for new information.
At first, the habit is still “active,” it’s just not as automatic. For example, if you had a habit of reading a book before bed but stop for a few weeks, the first nights you will feel the need to do it, but gradually the desire will decrease. However, if that habit had been part of your life for years, it will remain in your brain in a “latent state,” ready to be activated again by the right stimulus.
Research shows that short-term habits (lasting up to 30 days) can disappear completely within a few weeks, but long-term ones (lasting for years) rarely disappear entirely. They simply become weaker and require less effort to be restored.
One reason old habits are hard to eliminate is that they are tied to emotions and rewards. The brain remembers not only the action but also the feeling it brings. If a habit was associated with a moment of pleasure, comfort, or stress reduction, it will stay “recorded” and may easily return if you encounter the same conditions.
As we said, habits create “autopilot” in the brain. If, for years, you’ve eaten something sweet when stressed, your brain associates stress with the need for sugar. The problem with bad habits is that they often provide a “quicker” reward. For example, smoking immediately reduces stress, while meditation takes more time to show its effects. The longer a habit exists, the more deeply rooted it becomes – which means you can’t just “stop it,” you need to consciously replace it with a better alternative.
Moreover, the environment you’re in plays a huge role. For instance, if you’re trying to quit a habit like late-night snacking, but your fridge is full of temptations, the likelihood of returning to the old pattern is much higher. Your brain hasn’t forgotten how to do it – it’s just “waiting” for the right moment to activate the routine again.
Breaking up with bad habits often feels like a mission impossible – no matter how hard we try to leave them behind, they seem to follow us and bring us back to old patterns. But the truth is, the problem is not in the lack of willpower, but in how we approach change. The brain doesn’t like empty spaces – if you simply “stop” a habit but don’t replace it with another, the likelihood of returning to it is enormous.
To eliminate an unwanted habit, you first need to understand what triggers it. Every habit is driven by a trigger – whether it’s stress, boredom, social environment, or simply routine. For example, if you’ve gotten used to eating something sweet every evening in front of the TV, the problem isn’t the food, but the association your brain has built between relaxation and the reward from sugar.
Therefore, the most effective way to break a bad habit is to replace it with another that satisfies the same need but in a healthier way. The key is to make the new habit more accessible and easy, and the old one harder to perform. Here are a few practical tips:
We often fail because we try drastic changes. We decide to work out for 2 hours a day, completely stop eating sugar, or wake up at 5 in the morning, even though we’ve been sleeping until 9. The problem? The body and mind hate sharp changes. Try the 1% method:
For a habit to become as natural and inevitable as brushing your teeth, it must be easy to perform, connected to an existing routine, and provide satisfaction. In James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, he offers an effective strategy for building new habits – “The Habit Formula,” which includes four key elements:
The key to automating a habit is consistency and persistence – the more times you repeat the process, the stronger the neural connections in the brain become, and eventually, the habit becomes a natural part of your daily life.
The first 4-6 weeks are the most critical. If you manage to withstand your brain’s resistance during this period, you have a high chance of keeping the new habit for a long time.
We’ve all been there – we start with enthusiasm, full of motivation, but after a few weeks (or days), everything begins to feel like an effort, and old habits come back. The truth is, motivation is variable, and you can’t rely on it in the long term. What really keeps consistency is the system you create.
The key to success is discipline and building a habit that doesn’t depend on your current mood. Instead of waiting to feel inspired, create mechanisms that will help you stay on track even when you don’t feel like it:
Ultimately, achieving consistency is not a matter of willpower or some inherent ability – it’s a skill you can learn and improve. If you wait to feel motivated every day, you’ll be in a constant battle with yourself. True change comes when you realize that success doesn’t lie in big bursts of enthusiasm but in small, consistent actions.
There will be days when you won’t want to get out of bed, go to the gym, or eat healthily. And that’s perfectly normal! But if you’ve built a solid system, you’ll know that your actions aren’t dependent on your mood – they are part of your identity.
Habits work like levers – at first, they require effort, but over time, they start working in your favor. What once seemed like a challenge is now just a way of life.
So, if you want to change something in your life, don’t wait for the perfect moment – just start. A small step today can lead to huge progress after a few months. And who knows? One day you might look back and realize that the best investment you’ve ever made was in yourself.