Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Why Willpower Fails
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Why Willpower Fails
Send us a text
New Year hype meets real-life biology, and the sparks don’t last. We pull back the curtain on why motivation fades so quickly and show how to build habits that survive stress, poor sleep, and messy schedules. Instead of blaming yourself for slipping after a strong start, learn the neuroscience that explains why your brain defaults to comfort and immediate relief when the day runs hot.
We unpack the habit loop trigger, action, reward—and explain why the habit you hate is often your brain’s best available solution to an unmet need. That insight changes everything: remove a habit without keeping the reward and the brain resists; redesign the reward and behaviour shifts with less friction. From there, we contrast goals with systems and demonstrate how environment, energy, and stress load quietly decide what actually happens on your hardest days. If the unhealthy option is easier, your brain will choose it. So we make the healthy path easy by default.
You’ll hear practical, science-backed tools for 2026: identity before intensity; environment design that puts trainers in sight and phones out of bedrooms; starting smaller than feels sensible so consistency compounds; and regulating sleep, stress, movement, nutrition, and connection before chasing optimisation. We round it out with better questions—What system am I operating in? What is this habit trying to help me with? What one small change makes the right choice easier?—so you can build routines that last.
Ready to trade white-knuckle willpower for a smarter system? Listen now, subscribe for the long view on behaviour change, and share this episode with someone who needs a gentler, more effective path. If it helped, leave a quick review and tell us the one small change you’ll make today.
Thank you for listening to The Long View with Dr Sunil Kumar.
If this episode resonated, take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share it with someone who might benefit from a longer perspective.
New episodes are released regularly.
Until next time, take the long view.
View all episodes
By Dr Sunil KumarSend us a text
New Year hype meets real-life biology, and the sparks don’t last. We pull back the curtain on why motivation fades so quickly and show how to build habits that survive stress, poor sleep, and messy schedules. Instead of blaming yourself for slipping after a strong start, learn the neuroscience that explains why your brain defaults to comfort and immediate relief when the day runs hot.
We unpack the habit loop trigger, action, reward—and explain why the habit you hate is often your brain’s best available solution to an unmet need. That insight changes everything: remove a habit without keeping the reward and the brain resists; redesign the reward and behaviour shifts with less friction. From there, we contrast goals with systems and demonstrate how environment, energy, and stress load quietly decide what actually happens on your hardest days. If the unhealthy option is easier, your brain will choose it. So we make the healthy path easy by default.
You’ll hear practical, science-backed tools for 2026: identity before intensity; environment design that puts trainers in sight and phones out of bedrooms; starting smaller than feels sensible so consistency compounds; and regulating sleep, stress, movement, nutrition, and connection before chasing optimisation. We round it out with better questions—What system am I operating in? What is this habit trying to help me with? What one small change makes the right choice easier?—so you can build routines that last.
Ready to trade white-knuckle willpower for a smarter system? Listen now, subscribe for the long view on behaviour change, and share this episode with someone who needs a gentler, more effective path. If it helped, leave a quick review and tell us the one small change you’ll make today.
Thank you for listening to The Long View with Dr Sunil Kumar.
If this episode resonated, take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share it with someone who might benefit from a longer perspective.
New episodes are released regularly.
Until next time, take the long view.