The Truth About Habits: Why Inspiration Isn’t Enough
I was listening to the Modern Wisdom podcast recently, and a conversation between Chris Williamson and Dr. Mike Israetel, a professor of exercise and sports science struck a chord.
They were talking about the psychology of motivation and habits. But more than the theory, it got me thinking about how I’ve built and sustained healthy habits over the years. How I help clients do the same. And why so many people stall despite their best intentions.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Inspiration starts the fire but burns out fast.
Almost every health shift begins with inspiration. Sometimes it’s positive, a video of someone with glowing skin, sculpted muscles, or neatly plated meals that triggers a “yes, I want that too.”
Other times, it’s negative. A friend dies young. A parent gets a diagnosis. A moment that makes your own mortality feel closer than you’d like.
Both are powerful. Both can spark change.
But neither lasts.
Inspiration is fleeting by design. It’s an emotional surge. A dopamine hit. And if you’re someone with neurodivergent wiring, you might feel this even more intensely jumping from one new habit to the next, then collapsing into inaction when the buzz fades.
The cycle becomes:
✨ Inspired → 💥 Do all the things → 😩 Overwhelm → 🚫 Quit
We don’t fail because we didn’t care. We fail because we didn’t set up what comes next.
2. Motivation follows but it’s not the hero either.
Motivation lasts longer than inspiration but not by much.
It’s what keeps you going in the first few weeks. You feel the momentum. You’re still excited. The new meal plan is fresh. The workouts haven’t become repetitive yet.
But eventually life interrupts. Work deadlines. Sick kids. A bad night’s sleep. And now motivation isn’t enough either.
This is where most people stall. But this is also where the real work starts.
3. What comes next is structure, support, and skin in the game.
This is where I see the biggest difference in my 1:1 work with clients.
We don’t just chase motivation. We build the infrastructure underneath it:
A meal plan that fits your life
An exercise strategy that works for your body
A supplement protocol that supports your physiology
A lifestyle blueprint tailored to your reality
You need a personalised plan. But more than that, you need a system that protects your habits when you don’t feel like showing up.
4. Discipline is doing it when you don’t want to.
Eventually, the excitement wears off. The motivation thins out. The goal seems far away.
This is when you fall back on two things:
Your deeper why
Your structured habits
For me, the reason I train almost daily, rarely drink, eat well, and go to bed early isn’t because I’m especially disciplined. It’s because I know what I want:
To travel well into my 80s and 90s
To stay strong for my kids
To feel capable, not fragile
That purpose matters. But even with a strong why, you still won’t feel like it every day.
So what do you do?
You accept the resistance and act anyway.
You use the willpower you’ve got but don’t waste it on decisions you can preempt.
You make the hard things easier.
This is where habit architecture comes in.
Your gym is a 5-minute walk, not an hour drive.
Your workout clothes are laid out the night before.
Your meals are prepped on Sunday.
Your sleep routine is protected like a meeting.
Willpower is finite. So stop relying on it.
Design your life so it takes less of it.
5. Rigidity kills habits. Flexibility sustains them.
Setting goals is essential. But being unrealistic? That’s sabotage.
You won’t eat paleo every day of the year. You won’t wake at 5:30am for a 15,000-step walk every morning. You’ll get sick. It’ll rain. Life will do its thing.
So plan for flexibility.
Move your morning walk to 7am in winter
Choose something semi-decent at the wedding buffet
Miss a training session—then go the next day
Consistency beats perfection. Always.
6. Willpower, like muscle, must be trained and rested.
We often treat willpower like a badge of honour. But it’s not something you flex constantly.
Like muscle, it strengthens through smart use and strategic rest.
Sometimes, you push through:
You stick to the plan
You say no to the second glass
You get on the mat when you’d rather scroll
Other times, you pull back:
You go out for pizza with your friends
You skip the gym and take a bath
You let yourself off the hook
This isn’t laziness. It’s strategy.
Willpower needs to recover so it can rise again, stronger and more reliable when it matters most.
In summary:
Inspiration starts the habit
Motivation carries it a little further
Structure, support, and discipline make it stick
Flexibility makes it sustainable
Rested willpower makes it resilient
This is what I teach in my clinical work.
It’s also what I live.
And the good news? You don’t have to fix everything at once.
Start with one habit.
Build the infrastructure underneath it.
And let the ripple effect do the rest.
