The Power of Habits
We are creatures of habit.
If you believe you can change your habits, then you can be whoever you want to be. Because everything you do—whether it’s when you sleep, when you eat, or how you structure your day—is rooted in habits. And habits can be changed (Atomic Habits)
For example, I personally don’t eat in the mornings. That’s just a habit I developed over time. And because I’ve trained myself to do it, it feels natural now. It’s like a muscle—the more you work on it, the stronger it gets.
That’s the key takeaway:
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Everything is a habit.
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Everything is a muscle.
It takes time to strengthen a habit, but if you stick with it day in and day out, it becomes effortless. People talk about the 21-day rule for forming habits, and while it’s not a strict rule, it’s a good guideline to keep in mind.
The Role of Habits in Diet
Today, I want to focus on how habits shape our diet—what we eat and when we eat.
Growing up, my parents always told me that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. So, every morning before school, I’d have milk, eggs, and a sandwich before heading out. It was a routine, something I did without thinking.
But when I went to university, I decided to try something different. Instead of eating right away, I wanted to use my mornings for deep, focused work before having breakfast. While the first few days were tough, my body slowly started to get accustomed to it. And now, around three years later, I still follow this habit and advocate for people to give it a try because it has positively influenced my ability to get shit done in the morning.
But it was a gradual change. Let me explain the journey that I went through. I started with this routine: For the first two hours of my day, I would dive into work, and then afterward, I’d reward myself with food. But over time, I noticed something—I didn’t even need breakfast. If I waited two, three, even four more hours, I still wouldn’t feel hungry.
And that’s when it hit me: once you change your habits and get used to a new routine, the old one fades away.
At some point, eating first thing in the morning started to feel strange because I had trained my body and mind to function differently.
The Influence of Environment
One of the most eye-opening moments came when I went back home.
Being in my old environment—back with my family, back in the same setting where I grew up—brought back my old habits. Suddenly, I felt the urge to eat breakfast again. It was like muscle memory kicking in.
That’s when I realized just how much our environment shapes our habits. It’s not just about food—this applies to anything you want to change in life.
Your environment plays a huge role in forming and breaking habits. If you can control your environment, you can use it to your advantage.
The Power of Exposure
As soon as I returned to university, I fell right back into my university habits—skipping breakfast again with no effort.
That’s another lesson: even if you lose a good habit, you can easily bring it back by exposing yourself to the right environment.
It’s similar to how people act differently when they speak different languages. Your environment affects your mindset, your behavior, and ultimately, your habits. And when you change your habits, you change who you are.
That’s how powerful it is.
It’s a resource anyone can leverage to shape their life in the direction they want.