3 Simple Steps to Teach Your Brain to Break Bad Habits

Written by Shannen van der Kruk | Habits

Bad habits can feel like unshakable shadows, lingering despite our best efforts to eliminate them. Whether it's mindless scrolling, emotional eating, or skipping workouts, these routines are often deeply ingrained in our brains. But the good news? Science shows that breaking bad habits is possible when you understand how they work.

Habits, good or bad, follow a loop: cue, craving, behaviour, and reward. To effectively change a habit, you need to disrupt this loop and rewire your brain. Let’s explore three simple, science-backed steps to teach your brain to break bad habits and make room for healthier ones.

Step 1: Recognise Your Habit Loops

The first step in breaking a habit is understanding it. Habits don’t happen in isolation—they’re deeply connected to triggers and rewards. Your brain, in its effort to conserve energy, creates shortcuts in the form of habitual behaviours. These shortcuts follow a loop:

  1. Cue – A situation, feeling, or environment that triggers the habit.
  2. Craving – The urge or desire to resolve discomfort or gain pleasure.
  3. Behaviour – The action you take in response to the craving.
  4. Reward – The relief, satisfaction, or pleasure you experience afterward.

Imagine this: every evening, you find yourself binge-watching TV shows instead of working on that side project you’re passionate about. What’s the cue? Perhaps it’s the feeling of exhaustion after a long day. The craving? A desire to relax and escape from stress. The behaviour? Hours of Netflix. The reward? Temporary relief from the pressure of the day.

To disrupt this loop, spend a few days observing your habit without judgment. Keep a journal and answer questions like:

  • What triggers this behaviour? Is it a time of day, a specific emotion, or even a certain place?
  • What craving am I trying to satisfy? Is it boredom, stress, or a need for connection?
  • What reward am I seeking, and does it truly satisfy me?

Recognising your habit loop is like turning on a light in a dark room—it reveals the structure of the habit, empowering you to make changes.

Step 2: Bring Awareness to the Present Moment

Awareness is the bridge between your current habits and the changes you want to make. Neuroscience shows that mindfulness—being fully present and aware of your actions—activates the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for self-control and decision-making. This awareness interrupts the automatic nature of habits and creates a pause for conscious choice.

Let’s say you’ve identified stress as the cue for your habit of stress-eating. The next time you feel that familiar urge, pause and ask yourself:

  • What am I truly feeling right now? Is it stress, boredom, or something else?
  • Is this action (eating a snack) really addressing my need, or is it just a quick fix?

For example, Maria, a graphic designer, struggled with checking her phone every few minutes while working. By bringing awareness to the habit, she realized the cue was moments of frustration during her creative process. Instead of mindlessly scrolling, she began taking two deep breaths and reminding herself that discomfort is part of creating something meaningful.

Mindfulness doesn’t eliminate cravings overnight, but it helps you see your habits for what they are—automatic responses to discomfort. The more you practice pausing and observing, the easier it becomes to make intentional choices.

Step 3: Replace the Old Habit with a Healthier One

Habits are hard to break because they create a void when removed. That’s why the most effective way to eliminate a bad habit is to replace it with a positive one that satisfies the same craving.

Consider Jack, who struggled with doomscrolling on social media every night. His cue was bedtime, and his craving was to unwind. Instead of scrolling, he replaced the habit with a calming bedtime ritual: reading for 20 minutes. Over time, his brain began associating reading with relaxation, making the new habit stick.

To replace a habit:

  1. Identify a Positive Alternative: Choose an action that satisfies the same craving. If stress triggers you to snack, try deep breathing or journaling instead.
  2. Start Small: Commit to replacing just one instance of the habit each day. For example, replace one episode of Netflix with 15 minutes of journaling.
  3. Create a Reward: Celebrate your success with something meaningful, like ticking off a habit tracker or treating yourself to a relaxing activity.

Be patient with yourself. Habits are like well-worn paths in the brain, and building new ones takes time and repetition. Each time you choose the new habit, you weaken the old one and strengthen the new neural pathway.

What habit are you working on breaking? Share your story in the comments—I’d love to hear your insights and cheer you on!