you can't break a habit if you still see yourself as the person who does it if you think I'm lazy you can't break a habit that proves you're disciplined if you think you're disorganized you can't build a habit that proves you're focused if you're not on top of everything you can't prove to yourself you have a plan so instead of saying I'm trying to quit say I'm not someone who chooses that anymore the No. 1 health and wellness podcast Jayshetty jayshetty the one the only jayshetty I could never change my habits until I did this what if I told you that 90% of your bad habits have nothing to do with discipline and everything to do with the systems you live inside 1 most people blame themselves for their habits I'm just lazy I'm not consistent I always mess this up but here's the truth you don't have bad habits because you're a bad person you have bad habits because you have invisible patterns that no one ever taught you to see and once you see them you can break them fast let's be honest if you wanna have a great 2026 breaking bad habits and building good habits is core to your success we are what we repeatedly do this is the wisdom that's been passed down for generations yet we rarely focus on our most repeated thoughts actions beliefs and values and we think it's gonna be some miraculous manifesting moment some random thing that happens in our life that changes the trajectory of everything when in reality it's all about our habits if you want 2026 to be the best year of your life this episode is for you if you wanna break your bad habits in 2026 this episode is for you and if you're someone who's done just setting goals and not meeting them this episode is for you let's dive in so why can't you break your bad habits let's get honest if you could have broken the habit by now you would have the problem isn't effort the problem is misdiagnosis most people think a bad habit is a character flaw but science shows a bad habit is usually an emotional escape when we have a bad habit we think it's because we're a bad person we had bad parenting we had a bad background we had bad company now even if you did have a lot of challenging things the truth I want you to realize is a bad habit is more of a subconscious response it's something that you can train it's not something that you're stuck with a bad habit can be a triggered loop a bad habit can be a dopamine pattern you've repeated a bad habit can be an environment cue or a story you've been carrying for years but you can change it you can transform it a habit is not something you have to live with because it's who you are you are not your habits you are made of your habits you are defined by your habits but you yourself are not your habits here's the key idea you don't fix bad habits by fighting them you fix them by understanding what they're doing for you because every bad habit has a job scrolling equals distraction overeating equals comfort procrastinating equals Protection overworking equals avoidance people pleasing equals fear of rejection staying up late equals escape time your habit isn't random it's a coping strategy and once you understand the strategy you can rewrite it oftentimes when we want to change our habits we just think I just want to wake up earlier OK great but what does staying up late do for you 1 what is it providing that you need to change the strategy if you say to yourself oh I just want to stop drinking sodas what is that habit what is the loop what is the trigger what is the incentive that you turn to that for right every habit we have you can say I don't want to do this and I want to start this I never want to do this again I always want to do this but in reality if you don't get beneath the surface if you don't get beneath the hood you have no idea as to why you even turn to it in the first place and if you don't understand why you turn towards something you can't turn away from it if you don't know why every night even when you don't want to you turn on the TV and waste two hours if you don't know why you do that you can't change it if you don't know why you choose to sleep in instead of going to the gym you can't change it here's what I wanna talk to you about the four part loop that runs 90% of your habits every habit follows the same pattern No. 1 trigger something happens No.
2 emotion you feel stress boredom loneliness fear No. 3 behavior you reach for the habit and No. 4 reward your brain gets relief the loop completes and your brain says let's do that again tomorrow but here's the moment that changes everything if you interrupt just one part of the loop the habit collapses that means you don't have to change yourself you just change the loop this is where the real transformation happens we keep thinking I can't change myself I don't know what's wrong with me I just can't do this I'm just a lazy useless person but the reality is we're trying to change the loop not trying to change you it's the loop that has become you therefore if we can interrupt the loop change the loop transform the loop we can change how we feel focus on the loop don't focus on yourself we over focus on ourselves and our character more than we focus on the actual trigger so here's what I want you to do change your triggers most people try to change the habit but your habit is not the problem your trigger is here's an example you don't binge scroll because you want to right I don't think you go to your phone and go I can't wait to binge scroll today you binge scroll because your phone is beside your bed you don't eat late at night because you're hungry you eat because your kitchen is the only quiet moment you have it's a place of escape you're exhausted you're tired you didn't eat something right before you don't procrastinate because you're unmotivated you procrastinate because you're overwhelmed because you're scared of rejection so here's your first actionable step redesign your triggers move the phone out of the bedroom prep your meals early schedule work into smaller emotional portions remove the cue remove the craving your environment beats your willpower every single time don't try to fight the habit break the loop don't try to fight the habit break the loop focus on the design part that you can change to shift the direction of where you're going I really want you to think about this profoundly and thoughtfully I'll give an example I know that I used to turn to sugar when I felt stressed sugar would get me out of that feeling I also know that I used to turn to sugary drinks or sodas when I felt I didn't have energy I used to think that I couldn't work out unless I had energy not realizing that working out gave me energy when I'm working out I'm less likely to crave a sugary drink or a snack also going even a step further when I'm sleeping well I make better choices now ask yourself why you're not sleeping well what are you stressed about what's keeping you up at night figure out that trigger and interrupt that pattern focus on solving that and you'll be able to wake up earlier and sleep better as opposed to just beating yourself up for not having a good bedtime routine next replace the reward not the habit you can break your habit faster if you replace the reward before you remove the behavior here's what I mean if your habit gives you comfort replace the comfort not the habit if your habit gives you escape replace the escape not the habit most people try to stop a habit cold but nature hates a vacuum so I remember at one point I would just wanna play video games after a day of work no activity my brain goes dull I just need to switch off instead I switched it for pickleball playing a sport in the evening gives me that sense of play but it also gives me connection gives me physical activity I'm burning calories I'm getting steps I'm getting a sweat in replacing the habit is better than just saying I'm not gonna do anything this evening I'm just gonna start doing nothing from now on that's just not gonna work for example if you say to yourself I'm gonna start eating healthy now I'm never gonna reach for the chips but if all you have in your snack drawer is chips if you replace the habit and now you've got healthier alternatives that's what you're gonna reach for remove a habit without replacing the reward and your brain will find another habit to fill the gap this is why emotional eating turns into binge scrolling or why overworking turns into overthinking your brain is not sabotaging you it's solving for relief so you need an upgraded relief system we all need relief at the end of the day we all need relief at the end of the week that's normal we couldn't possibly read a book instead of watching a show reading a book requires effort watching a show requires no effort so if you eat for comfort call a friend for three minutes if you know you're gonna watch a show what's something that you feel really engaged by and fulfilled by rather than disappointed when you finish if you scroll for escape take a 90 second walk outdoors and truly escape and feel the difference if you procrastinate set a five minute timer let yourself procrastinate but have a deadline if you stress and you go shopping write about what you're feeling talk to someone about it small replacements break big habits sometimes you just need to go to your happy place and there's no better happy place than Celebrity Cruises they get you closer than close to the history culture and flavors of Europe and now they visit more of it than ever their elevated Caribbean escapes keep the island bliss going between islands from quick three and four night getaways to week long journeys and longer there's nothing more restorative than the wild wonders of Alaska and celebrity ships are designed to make the most of every view celebrity doesn't just build ships they build the vacations you'll always remember in the places you'll never forget book today and see why nothing comes close to Celebrity Cruises I remember when I was first trying to give up refined sugars I would find sweet products that were not as bad I was eating some monk fruit I was eating some dates I had to still solve for my craving at the time but I wanted to find a healthier craving so that I wasn't hurting myself does that make sense I hope that's resonating with you I don't want you just say I'm never gonna do this ever again it's really really hard to do that the next step is interrupt the loop in real time this is the most important step when a trigger hits and you feel yourself slipping into the habit pause just 10 seconds your brain only needs a tiny interruption to disrupt the automatic pathway say this out loud what am I actually needing right now that one sentence moves you from subconscious habit to conscious choice this is where the bad habit loses power because habits thrive in autopilot and die in awareness as soon as you're aware as soon as you ask yourself what am I doing here what do I really want right now if all you were scrolling you ask yourself what do I really want right now you might actually say to switch off and you might actually find a 20 minute power nap better than that hour doom scroll that you're about to do if you're watching a show late at night and you ask yourself what do I really need you'd probably say to decompress and rest and maybe getting into bed 30 minutes earlier is better than that extra episode if you woke up in the morning and ask yourself what do I really need right now you'd say I really need to get moving rightand you're gonna choose that over snorting that question reestablishes what's really important to you now we're getting into some serious growth the next step is to build a new identity around your choices you can't break a habit if you still see yourself as the person who does it let me say that again you can't break a habit if you still see yourself as the person who does it if you think I'm lazy you can't break a habit that proves you're disciplined if you think you're disorganized you can't build a habit that proves you're focused if you're not on top of everything you can't prove to yourself you have a plan so instead of saying I'm trying to quit say I'm not someone who chooses that anymore notice the difference instead of I'm trying to wake up earlier say I'm a morning person in training instead of I'm trying to stop procrastination say I'm someone who starts small this isn't about manifestation this isn't about creating something from your mind this is about identity identity is the soil habits are the seeds plant a new identity this year and your habits will grow into it becausewe don't change our self image we can't change our habits right if you imagined yourself as an athlete every day you would wake up eat right and sleep well because you see yourself as an athlete you treat yourself as an athlete but if you see yourself as someone lazy an underachiever someone who doesn't perform why would you suddenly start doing all of that when I'm working with a client I encourage them to see themselves as an athlete how would they treat their body how would they treat their mind how do they play game day on Saturday or Sunday or Monday and actually have an impact on the field what does that look like what does that sound like what does that feel like we have to build the identity first and the behavior will follow when you understand your past you understand why you reach for certain habits and how to outgrow them for example breaking habits isn't about force it's about understanding where they came from so you can finally let them go that's one of the biggest mistakes we make we're just trying to fight this thing and beat it and break it down whereas you can actually take its power away when you go oh I remember when I was stressed out at school and I started that habit because it made me feel less stress guess what I'm not stressed out anymore you know what I remember that I develop that habit when I was really broke andnow I still feel broke even though I'm a bit safer I can let that habit go you disempower bad habits when you recognize where they came from so here's the 90 day Habit Breaker blueprint and I need you to commit for 90 days here's the structure I wanna give you monthone focus on your awareness and triggers track your habits for 7 days identify the top three triggers redesign your environment month 2 replacement and micro wins assign a new reward for each habit practice the 10 second pause and celebrate tiny successes this part is huge here's what you need to do when you make the right decision write down how you feel after it I'll say that again when you make the right decision write down how you feel after it when I first started going to the gym in the morning I used to have to write down how I felt after it because it felt amazing it always felt better than skipping it always felt better than sleeping in it always felt better than not showing up and in the beginning I had to write that down so that the next morning when I woke up again and my mind came up with a list of excuses I was convinced because here's the thing when you're doing things that are good for you they always feel hard before you do them you're gonna wake up and your mind is gonna say sleep in you don't need to work out you're tired you've been working hard but if you've recognized that even when that's the case you feel better after you work out you'll show up and especially if you celebrate tiny successes so many of us don't celebrate until the big thing happens until the big win happens the problem with that is that could take a year and if you start celebrating a weekly win a monthly win you'll feel more momentum towards the big thing than taking energy away month No.
