People tend to think that breaking a bad habit requires iron willpower. If we could just grit our teeth, try harder, or “be more disciplined,” we’d finally be free of that one behaviour we can’t seem to shake.
But willpower isn’t the magic bullet we make it out to be.
Research shows that willpower is limited—it drains throughout the day and can’t be relied on long-term. The real key to lasting change is building a system that makes your bad habit harder to do, less appealing, and ultimately, easier to leave behind.
In this article, we’ll explore five science-backed strategies to help you break the habit that’s holding you back—from environmental tweaks to identity shifts that stick.
Important note: these strategies are designed for common behavioural habits. If you’re dealing with addiction or serious substance abuse, please seek professional help—while these tools can certainly help, they’re not a substitute for expert support.
Pre-Work: Pick One Habit
Before getting started, pick one bad habit to focus on. Just one.
It’s tempting to overhaul everything at once, but change is more likely to last when it’s focused and deliberate. If you’re not sure where to begin, consider what’s called a ‘keystone habit’ – something that, when changed, causes a ripple effect through other areas of your life. For example, when people start to exercise regularly, they tend to eat healthier food and sleep better. Similarly, when people cut down on drinking alcohol, they tend to be more productive and healthier.
The idea is to find one habit that will give you the most benefit. However, don’t stress yourself out trying to select the perfect habit to give up. Just go with whatever you feel is best. Maybe it’s mindless phone use, evening snacking, or hitting snooze every morning. Whatever you choose, focus your attention there.
And while this article focuses on removing bad habits, keep in mind that replacing a habit is often more effective than simply trying to stop it. We’ll touch on that as we go.
1. Remove the Cue or Prompt
Every habit starts with a cue. This is the trigger that sets the whole routine in motion.
Think about the bad habit you wish to eliminate: what always happens before it? Is it a time of day? A feeling? A place?
For example, perhaps you always scroll social media when you lie in bed (cue = getting into bed and setting your alarm). Alternatively, you always snack when you watch Netflix (cue = sitting down and watching TV).
If possible, remove or avoid the cue altogether. In our first example, this might mean charging your phone outside your bedroom and using a traditional alarm clock. In the second example, it might mean skipping TV in favour of a book at night. Ultimately, if you eliminate the trigger, the behaviour has nothing to attach to and it weakens naturally.
Take stock of your environment and routine, then ask yourself, “What’s setting off the habit I want to break?”
2. Repurpose the Cue—Change the Behaviour, Not the Trigger
Sometimes you simply can’t remove the cue entirely.
For example, let’s say you have a habit of smoking a cigarette after finishing a meal, you’re obviously not going to be able to stop eating meals! Alternatively, if your cue is feeling stressed, while you can try to limit stress, it’s impossible to prevent yourself from feeling that emotion ever again.
If we can’t control the cue, then we need to control the response. In these cases, we repurpose the cue. That means keeping the same trigger but pairing it with a new response.
For example:
- “When I feel stressed, I’ll take 5 deep breaths instead of reaching for snacks.”
- “After I finish dinner, I’ll go for a short walk instead of lighting a cigarette.”
Use the following formula:
“When I [cue], I will [new behaviour].”
By creating this new connection, you rewire your brain’s loop. The cue stays but the habit changes.
What’s important is to anchor in the new behaviour by celebrating each time you replace the habit. This can be a little fist pump, a happy dance, or saying “yes” to yourself energetically. It may seem silly, but if it makes you feel good, it’ll help make the new pattern stick!
3. Shrink Its Size
A powerful approach is to shrink the habit rather than attempting to tackle it all at once.
Let’s say you’re trying to cut back on your nightly post-work glass (or two) of wine. Start by taking one night a week off. Just choose the easiest night first and commit to not drinking wine on that day. This might work best on a day when you’re distracted by another activity, let’s say a gym class.
Keep that up for a month or so, then expand to two nights a week. When that becomes easy, increase it to three, and eventually tackle the most difficult days last (which is likely to be Friday in this example).
The idea behind this strategy is to get some momentum behind you, then when you move on to tackling the hardest part of the habit, it won’t seem so daunting.
4. Add Friction: Make It Harder to Do
Remember that habits thrive on convenience. If it’s easy, you’ll do it. If it’s even slightly difficult, you might pause long enough to reconsider.
For example, delete the app you scroll too often from your phone. You can still re-download it, but chances are the hurdle is enough to discourage you.
Another example is if you want to watch less TV. You could keep the remote in another room or remove the remote altogether, so you have to get up to change the channels one by one!
The best way to cut down on junk food and alcohol is to simply not have them in the house. You can still go out and buy them, but the added effort of going to the shop will likely discourage you.
It’s not about making the habit impossible. It’s about making it less convenient. That tiny gap between intention and action gives your brain a chance to pause and rethink.
5. Shift Your Identity
This might be the simplest, yet the most powerful strategy of them all.
If you want to change your behaviour, change the way you see and talk about yourself.
Instead of saying:
- “I’m trying to drink less.” say, “I’m not a regular drinker.”
- “I need to stop scrolling my phone at night.” say, “I value sleep and clarity—I don’t use my phone in bed.”
This isn’t just semantics. Changing what you say and think helps to shape your perception of your own identity, which ultimately influences your actions.
If you truly believe “I’m someone who looks after my body,” you’ll naturally choose behaviours that align with that identity. The trick is to pick a new identity that you genuinely want to embody, and then support it with small daily actions that reinforce the shift.
Conclusion: Small Changes = Massive Results
To eliminate a bad habit, you just need to understand it, shrink it, disrupt it, or replace it. Most importantly, you need to tackle it one small step at a time.
Try one strategy. If it doesn’t work for you, try another. People respond differently to various techniques. What works for one person may not work for you, but that’s OK! There is no failure here only feedback.
Above all, remember that willpower might help you start, but systems are what keep you going. So, design your environment, rethink your identity, and let go of that one habit that’s been holding you back. You’ve got this!
