01/07/2026
As part of BeWell’s January series, “What’s Your Nutritionist’s New Year’s Resolution?”, let’s dive into the 4 Steps to Build a New Habit, and how to break the bad ones! 💪
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Inspired by James Clear’s Atomic Habits, here are the 4 “laws” of behavior change:
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1️⃣ Make it obvious:
Set clear cues for your new habit so it’s easy to spot and grabs your attention. Use habit stacking to automatically cue your new habit after an existing autopilot habit. “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will immediately [NEW HABIT]”. For example: After lunch, take 1 walk around the block.
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2️⃣ Make it attractive
Making something appealing or exciting will increase our motivation to do it. Join a club or community where the new behavior is celebrated. Humans are wired to thrive on community reinforcement.
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3️⃣ Make it easy.
Give your permission to START SMALL! BeWell Nutritionist Laura M tells her clients “make the initial step so easy you can’t say no. Walking up the stairs a mere 2 times is so easy you can’t say no. Adding one baby carrot to your plate is so easy you can’t say ‘not today.’ From there, you can build to any goal!”
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4️⃣ Make it satisfying.
An immediate reward makes it more likely you’ll repeat the new behavior. Using a habit tracker is also a great way to keep track of a habit streak and reinforce the process!
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Tomorrow we’ll explore the 4 steps to BREAK unwanted habits.
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Note that building new habits and breaking existing habits are two slightly different goals.
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