How to create lasting habit change

This article is based on an interview conducted by Melanie Moffatt, Senior Corporate Health and Wellbeing Lead, with Dr Gina Cleo, PhD, who shares insights on how to change your habits, for good.

Have you ever set a goal around exercise, sleep, nutrition, work, or even your relationship and struggled to create consistency? If you answered yes, you’re definitely not alone. But there is good news. We can strengthen new habit patterns in the brain to help create lasting behaviour change.

Dr Gina Cleo’s PhD research on habit change shows that habits form through repetition, context, and consistency . When we understand how habits actually work, we can stop relying on discipline alone and instead build systems that helps support lasting change.

What is a habit?

A habit is a behaviour you’ve repeated enough times that your brain has automated it. Habits run through a loop of Cue, Routine and Reward*.

For example, you feel tired (cue), so you grab a coffee (routine), and feel more alert (reward). The more you repeat that loop, the more your brain hardwires it in, thanks to a part of the brain called the basal ganglia*. The key to lasting change isn’t breaking the loop; it’s redesigning it.

To create a life by intentional design, Dr Gina Cleo shares five tips to help you create new habits or break unwanted ones.

Understand your cues

Every habit starts with a trigger. It could be a time of day, an emotion, an environment or even another behaviour. By becoming more aware of your cues, you can interrupt autopilot and start making intentional choices.

Try this: Notice one habit you’d like to change and ask: What happens right before I do this? Write down your common triggers.

Swap the routine, keep the reward.

Trying to stop a habit altogether is hard because your brain still craves the reward. A more effective approach is to keep the cue and reward the same but change the behaviour* in the middle.

Try this: If your cue is stress and your usual routine is scrolling, try a new behaviour like a quick walk, deep breathing or stretching.

Start tiny to make repetition automatic.

Habits are formed through repetition, not intensity. Starting small increases, the likelihood you’ll follow through consistently, which is what helps habits stick over time.

Try this: Scale your habit down to something almost too easy, like moving your body for one minute.

Reinforce the reward

For a habit to stick, your brain needs to recognise that it’s worth repeating. A reward, no matter how small, helps strengthen the habit loop.

Try this: After completing your habit, pause and recognise it. Tick it off, say 'done', or notice how you feel.

Design your environment for better cues.

Your environment is full of cues that trigger behaviour. Rather than relying on discipline, set up your surroundings to help reinforce the behaviours that you want.

Try this: Make positive cues visible and easy to see; leave a water bottle on your desk; move your phone out of reach at night; and keep healthy snack options nearby.

Getting started

One of the most common mistakes is starting too big. Sustainable habits begin with actions so small they feel almost effortless. When a habit is easy, your brain is more likely to repeat it. Over time, repetition makes the behaviour automatic and part of your routine, and eventually, part of your lifestyle and your identity.

Pick one habit to focus on this week, start small and aim for progress over perfection. For more tips on changing your habits, check out Dr Cleo’s free Habit Masterclass or her bestselling book, The Habit Revolution.