The Neuroscience of Forming Healthy Habits

The new school year provides a new sense of beginnings and routines. Whether we want to improve our health, spend time reading the bible, or establish another beneficial practice, starting and maintaining it can be hard.

Have you ever been excited to start a new habit, only to lose the motivation to continue within a week or two?

My friend coaches a health program that tracks diet, water intake, and exercise. I thought, “Might as well give it a try; eating healthier and having exercise accountability are good goals to have.”

I didn't give much thought to my "yes" before committing. The next day, I signed up for the app and began the required regimen. Within a week, I became complacent about tracking my food and following the exercise plan. Don’t even ask me how much water I drank in a day. I became frustrated with my apathy, but I did not feel motivated to do what was required.

Have you ever been excited to start a new habit, only to lose the motivation to continue within a week or two?

A habit is a routine, behavior, or even cognitive process that starts spontaneously but repeats automatically because of prior experience.[1]” Research on habit formation suggests that developing a new behavior into an automatic habit takes time. In a well-known study, participants took an average of about sixty-six days for a new behavior to become automatic, although there was a significant variation depending on the individual.[2]”

How do we persevere when habit formation becomes difficult?

God gave us instructions for perseverance long before modern neuroscience existed. By combining biblical wisdom with foundational neuroscience principles, we can learn practical ways to persevere as we develop healthy habits.

Strategy #1: Evaluate the Purpose and Practicality 

“Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2b NLT)

What is your Why? Write down why you want to establish the habit and honestly evaluate how likely you are to accomplish it in your current season. For example, if you just discovered you are pregnant, it might not be the best time to start training for a marathon. The goal itself may be worthwhile, but the timing may not be practical.

Before establishing a new habit, renew your mind by reading God’s Word and prayer. Ask God to guide you in determining what He is calling you to pursue in this season of your life.

Strategy #2: Make a Plan 

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans" (Proverbs 16:3 NIV)

My plan to start this new diet and exercise plan had a few major problems. I never set a plan! I didn't know how or when to accomplish my goal. How was I supposed to eat healthier if the food I needed wasn't on my grocery list, or when was I supposed to exercise if I didn't schedule it into my day?

Planning ahead can remove roadblocks before they occur. Instead of simply deciding what we were going to do, we could have determined who would be responsible, when we would do it, and where we would do it.

I also changed too many tasks at once. I jumped in with both feet, changing everything about what I ate, my exercise routine, and my water consumption habits. Research shows that the brain can develop habits more quickly with simple behaviors than complex ones. [1] Make a plan that provides room for growth. Taking small steps will increase the probability of success.

When we commit our plans to the Lord, we acknowledge that we don’t have to accomplish them in our own strength. As we make our plan, we can depend on Christ to give us the strength and wisdom we need.

Strategy # 3: Find your People

Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. - Hebrews 12:1-2a NIV

When we find people in our lives who have already achieved the habit, we can emulate them and learn how to be persistent and persevere. You are more likely to succeed when your accountability partner has already achieved what you desire to accomplish.

In my case, I saw that I was faltering in my desire to continue. I persevered because I stepped back, evaluated my purpose and plans, committed my way to the Lord, and leaned on my people for a fresh perspective as I pursued my goals.

Neuroscience confirms what God's Word has taught us for generations: when we commit our purpose, process, and plans to the Lord, we do not need to depend on our own strength. Even when we don’t complete all that we set out to accomplish, God gives us his grace and strength to get up and start again.

What habit do you want to start? How can you engage your why and plan to achieve your goal? When you are discouraged, what Bible verse can you use to be encouraged to persevere?

[1] Alana I. Mendelsohn, “Creatures of Habit: The Neuroscience of Habit and Purposeful Behavior,” Biological Psychiatry 85, no. 11 (2019): e49–51, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.03.978.

[2] Benjamin Gardner et al., “Making Health Habitual: The Psychology of ‘Habit-Formation’ and General Practice,” The British Journal of General Practice 62, no. 605 (2012): 664–66, https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp12X659466.