Life has a way of messing up our best-laid plans. Picture this: you're set to wake up at 5 a.m. every day, basking in the sunrise with birds singing like a Disney movie. You’re committed to a daily “Letting Go Of It All” meditation before your Soul Cycle class followed by a perfectly balanced pressed juice. Sounds great for the first two weeks, right?

‍Then reality hits. Your train gets canceled a million times, and one morning, just as you're scrambling to grab your keys, the dog you love (who hates being left alone) decides to puke up something that suspiciously looks like last night’s curry. Even with the best intentions, life’s honest unpredictability always throws us off track. It's no surprise that sticking to an early rise suddenly seems less appealing, and the snooze button wins out.

As a clinical psychologist, I’m always reminding my patients that changing a habit doesn't happen overnight. We may have the desire, determination, even a plan. But we are all easily distracted, and aspects out of our control can quickly make our initial enthusiasm wear thin. Frustration and demotivation doesn’t cut it.

But why exactly does changing a habit feel so completely beyond our means, even when we start strong? Whether we’re trying to master a new morning routine or break free from our competitive listening tendencies, understanding the subconscious process behind why our brain behaves the way it does can equip us to make new, improved choices, finally allowing us to lose the habits that feel impossible to shake.

The challenge of change

From brushing our teeth to procrastinating, habits become deeply ingrained over years of practice. And when they’re so familiar, the idea of changing them can feel unattainable to the point of preposterous (ever used the phrase ‘I’ll always [insert habit here]’? Me too).
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But change is actually one of life’s only constants. Our days are spent reacting and responding. Staff changes, project pivots, new technology, the impact we feel from global politics. Our environment is always evolving, requiring us to constantly adapt. Thankfully, our brains possess an incredible aptitude for just that.
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Enter neuroplasticity. The concept of Hebbian theory, that "cells that fire together, wire together", highlights just how connectivity in our brain is built. Neural pathways are strengthened through repeated and simultaneous activation, essential for both building our behaviors, but also modifying them.
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I often think of the brain like plasticine or clay, ready to be molded and shaped. A study by Draganski (et al., 2004) revealed that new activities like juggling can alter brain structures in just weeks, proving that we can physically reshape our brain by repetitively practicing new skills. Even more compelling is that humans are in fact capable of this no matter their age. Sure, the stickiness of long-practiced habits still applies, but the notion that you can pick up a new habit later in life is entirely achievable. We have to be in the right frame of mind to change a habit; it’s about acceptance.‍

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We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.

_{Carl Jung}

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‘Breaking Bad’ habits

If it could all be so simple. Unfortunately, we can't solely rely on the principle that change can just “happen”. Naturally we have to have impetus. We have to have a reason to want it.

That’s where rewards come in. Reward systems were first understood on a basic level in Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments with dogs, demonstrating how associative learning (ringing a bell) leads to conditioned responses (expecting food). This set the stage for B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning, which functions on the basis of rewarding and so reinforcing the behaviors you want to encourage, and punishing the ones you want to discontinue or drop. Gamification and reward systems are becoming more and more embedded into our lives, from language learning apps to coffee loyalty programs.

There’s a good reason these systems often function on the basis of immediacy. Immediate rewards tend to reinforce our habits more effectively than delayed ones. On the flipside, this makes common habits like stress-eating hard to break. Let’s face it, even in spite of the known drawbacks, we're more likely to crave chocolate over a bowl of leafy greens. Instant gratification over uncertain or delayed rewards is instinctive. Immediate access to food, shelter or safety was once crucial to our ancestor's survival.

Modern influences in behavior change

The world - not to mention animal rights - has since moved beyond the fundamental research from scientists like Pavlov and Skinner. Contemporary developments across digital technology and neuroimaging, as well as research in the fields of genetics, mindfulness and cognitive flexibility have all significantly impacted how we make and break behavior patterns. We have digital therapeutics using mindfulness techniques to improve mental health; smartwatches that can track physical activity and motivate users to exercise; even AI-based chatbots that can provide personalized health and wellness coaching.  This is not just about one-off fixes, but encouraging real change to improve our overall well being. 

When we think about reward systems, it is also crucial to understand what motivates us to behave in the way we do. Dan Pink's theory emphasizes that in the modern economy, where work often involves complex thinking and problem-solving, intrinsic motivators—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—are more effective than extrinsic rewards such as financial incentives. He highlights that the 'algorithmic' tasks that were previously undertaken by a good percentage of the workforce are now being replaced predominantly with computers and AI.

For a workforce now more engaged in 'heuristic' tasks, which require greater creativity and cognitive effort, enhancing these intrinsic factors leads to higher productivity, greater job satisfaction, and overall workplace happiness. Businesses and organizations, therefore, stand to benefit by focusing on fostering an environment that supports these intrinsic motivators to drive employee motivation and engagement.

These nuances are not to be sniffed at. Humans are complex beings, and require far more than the simple stimulus and reward that Pavlov used on his dogs. So if we suddenly want to spend at least 30 minutes outside daily when this was previously no more than sporadic, we need a layered and considered plan of attack.