Changing Your Habits

 

CHANGING YOUR HABITS;

GOOD OR BAD ONES!

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, February 9, 2026

 

Everyone must first recognize that EVERYTHING we do, we do out of habit.  If that is true, and I believe it is, how does one go about starting a new habit (like exercising), changing an existing habit (like a journey to losing weight) or stopping a harmful habit (like smoking)?

Changing habits isn’t about white-knuckled willpower or waking up one morning suddenly “motivated.” It’s about setting up a system your brain can follow without having to argue with it every day. Vague ideas like “I should exercise more” rarely survive contact with real life. Clear, specific actions do. Your mind works better when it knows exactly what’s expected, like taking a fifteen-minute walk after dinner instead of some undefined promise to “do better.”

Real habits stick when they’re tied to something you already do. You don’t create them out of thin air—you stack them onto existing routines. You brush your teeth, so you floss. You finish dinner, so you walk. You sit down at your desk, so you write a hundred words. It’s 7:00 PM, so you read a book for at least one hour that will help achieve your life’s goals.  The trigger becomes the reminder, and over time the action feels automatic.

The mistake most people make is starting too big. If it feels heavy, complicated, or intimidating, most people, certainly not you, will avoid it. Start embarrassingly small—one push-up, one page, two minutes. The point isn’t the size of the action; it’s getting started. Once you begin, momentum usually takes over, and if it doesn’t, you still won because you showed up.

Consistency always beats intensity. Doing a little every day will usually outperform a heroic effort. Missing a day isn’t failure—it’s life. Missing two in a row is how habits quietly fade away. Keep the chain alive.

Your brain also needs a reward, even a simple one, to mark the habit as a win. Check it off a list. Say “done” out loud. Enjoy a good cup of coffee. I like writing DONE! in red ink on my daily To Do List—it sounds small, but it signals completion and reinforces the behavior.  It is also very encouraging, to me, when I review previous To-Do Lists or Calendar entries and see all of the RED, DONES! 

Make good habits easy and bad habits inconvenient. Put your shoes by the door, the book on your pillow, and remove temptations that don’t serve you. Willpower is unreliable; environment usually wins.

The strongest habits grow out of identity. It’s not “I’m trying to quit,” it’s “I don’t do that anymore.” When your actions align with who you believe you are, the habit stops feeling forced and starts feeling natural.

Finally, give it time and repetition. Most habits take anywhere from thirty to ninety days to feel automatic—not perfect days, just repeated ones. The formula is simple and it works: a cue or suggestion leads to a small action, followed by a reward, repeated often enough to stick. That’s how every habit worth keeping is built.

Creating a habit is but a stepping-stone to achieving your Life’s Mission Statement.  You do have a Life Mission Statement, right?  Everyone should.  What do you want your life to have looked like when it is all over?  What do you want to achieve in the days you spend on the planet?  Once I began the process of creating my Life’s Mission Statement, it took me a couple of weeks to fine tune it to where it became a North Star guiding me throughout my life.  What is my Life’s Mission Statement?  So glad you asked.

TO HELP OTHERS TO DO WHAT THEY DO, TO DO IT BETTER!

To achieve this stated Life’s Mission, I call upon the mentorship of two authors that I have come to know on a personal level.  Gary Keller, co-founder of Keller Williams Realty and Joe Tye, friend, author and personal mentor.  How have their teachings helped me and more importantly, how can they help you?  Let me explain.

Gary Keller wrote a book, The One Thing; it is available on Amazon.  He has written several other books, but The One Thing is what I want to concentrate on.  Since I have established that my Life’s Mission Statement has already been created, what ONE THING should I be doing at this very moment so when it has been said or done, it will eventually lead me to completing my Life’s Mission Statement.  Since it is my desire to help people to do what they do to do it better, I would like to think that this Nugget for the Noggin might play a part in those peoples’ lives who read it to help them achieve their Life’s Mission Statement.

Joe Tye created what he calls a Direction-Deflection-Question (DDQ).  It is so simple and works almost 100% of the time.  Ask yourself:  Is what I am about to say or do leading me toward achieving my Life’s Mission Statement or away from it?  If the answer is YES, say or do it!  If the answer is NO, Don’t Say or Do It!  So simple yet so effective.  Try this one exercise if one of your goals is to achieve a desired weight.  Is what I am about to eat or drink leading me towards my ideal weight of _____ or away from my ideal weight of _____?  If the answer is YES, eat or drink it.  If the answer is NO, DO NOT eat or dink it! 

Would love to hear from you whether you think this information may help you or not.  It’s easy to reach me, TheJimBrown@pm.me.