So, how do you build dependable habits?
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes life just gets in the way, a deadline creeps up or training gets extended last minute. But, having some sort of structure helps you respond instead of react. When habits are in place, you have a mental anchor, a reliable starting point, even in chaos. You don’t need to overhaul your life, start with one or two areas where you want more consistency and apply this framework:
Create simple cue-based rituals
Choose small, repeatable actions you can build into your day, so they become automatic. Examples:
Time-based – “at 4pm”
Location based – “when I sit at my desk”
Sensory cues – “when I listen to my upbeat playlist”
This builds what we call a “habit loop” which refers to a cue and/or routine reward that helps bypass motivation (3), essentially the motivation cheat code. Example: “At 5pm, I will fill my water bottle, put on my upbeat playlist, and leave for the gym.”
Make it so small, you cannot skip it
This is key for your new routine! It should be so low effort that it feels easier to do it than avoid. Psychologists sometimes call the motivation needed to overcome the mental hurdle of starting a task as “activation energy” (4). Being able to lower the activation energy for a task makes it easier to begin. For me, that just meant doing 5 minutes of rehab on low motivation days which enabled me to get the ball rolling with my rehab and kept the habit alive.
Reward the process, not the outcome
When I’m struggling, I ground myself by remembering to “think where your feet are”, a simple reminder to stay present and focus on what’s right in front of me. Big goals, like a New Year’s resolution to, ‘get fit and go to the gym’ are exciting, but we often skip the small, foundational steps that make them possible. We’re so used to chasing results that we forget the power of small, consistent actions that drive real change. Motivation lasts longer when you celebrate consistency, not just outcomes. That’s where tools like habit trackers, journals or calendars come in. Each checkmark becomes a small but powerful reinforcement of progress and over time, these tiny wins stack into something unstoppable. That’s why habits don’t run on willpower, they run on autopilot.
Why habits win when willpower fails.
Habits lighten the load on your brain—they cut down decision-making, make it easier to get started, and create consistency that fuels motivation. When something is a habit, you don’t waste mental energy deciding whether to do it, you simply do it. That’s why habits are so powerful during setbacks. Whether you’re recovering from injury, battling through a rough week at work or pushing through a low energy day, habits keep you moving, when willpower alone would give up.
Final thoughts…
Motivation doesn’t ensure success, that comes from design. When you build a system that supports your actions, even when you’re not feeling it, habits will carry you forward and keep you on track. So, the next time someone says, “you must be so motivated”, smile and think about the simple routines doing the real work, which I call my motivation cheat-code.
