Health & Wellness

7 Tiny Shifts a Habit Expert Swears By for People Who Hate Self-Improvement

March 17, 2026

You’ve tried the 5 a.m. wake-ups. The Sunday resets. The 30-day challenges that somehow end by Wednesday. And every time it falls apart, you end up convinced you’re the problem and that you just need more discipline.

On The Gabby Reece Show, bestselling author Light Watkins says that’s usually not true. The real issue is that most people build habits around their ideal self instead of the version of them that’s tired, busy, distracted, and one minor inconvenience away from ordering takeout and calling it a day. His “tortoise approach” to change is built on one simple idea: do less, but actually stick to it.

Here’s where he says to start.

☐ Plan for your worst day, not your best one

“You have to be honest with yourself around what you will do, not on a perfect day, but on your most tired day,” Watkins says. “When you don’t have time to cook, you don’t have time to think about eating anything healthy.” If the habit only works when you’re motivated and well-rested, it’s not going to survive a random Tuesday where everything goes sideways. Build around 9 p.m. you, not 7 a.m. aspirational you.

☐ Try it 7 times before you decide

“What I like about seven days is that it exposes the habit to everything you got going on in your life,” Watkins says. And they don’t even have to be consecutive. That part matters because skipping one day doesn’t have to turn into, “Well, I already ruined it, so whatever.”

☐ Attach the new habit to something you’re already doing

“What if you can do 20 push-ups while you’re watching TV during commercial breaks?” Watkins asks. “You’re probably not paying attention to commercials that much anyway. That’s probably a moment where you pick up your phone and start scrolling.” Instead of carving out a whole new block of time you don’t have, slide the habit into downtime that already exists in your day.

☐ Remove the thing so you don’t have to fight yourself at 11 p.m.

“If you just get rid of the Oreos, you give yourself the freedom of choicelessness,” Watkins says. “Which means, it’s 11:30 at night. You open the pantry…and you’ll see that there’s just Whole Foods or natural stuff or whatever…and because that’s the only option you have, you’ve just given yourself an advantage of not having the choice to betray yourself.” Willpower runs out. Your environment doesn’t. Set up your space so the easiest option is also the one that’s good for you.

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☐ Go seven days without complaining

This was the “hardest challenge” in Watkins’ entire yearlong program. “Just going seven days without complaining, not even in a row,” he says. “It would take people sometimes a month to get through seven days.” The rules are simple: you can think it, but you can’t say it or type it. And the wildest part? “The next thing they reported was they never realized how many people around them complain.” Once you stop, you hear it everywhere.

☐ Choose one small discomfort on purpose

“See what it’s like to go seven days without the thing you’re addicted to,” Watkins says. “Just seven days, not forever.” A cold shower. Walking to the store instead of driving. One Saturday without your phone. The goal isn’t suffering for the sake of it, but proving to yourself that you can be slightly uncomfortable and come out the other side totally fine.

☐ Every time you want to complain, give a compliment instead

“Whenever you have the temptation to complain, trade it for an opportunity to offer a sincere compliment,” Watkins says. “Redirect your attention away from what they’re doing wrong to what they are doing right.” Basically, before you launch into what someone did wrong, pause and find one thing they did right and say that first. It sounds simple, but it instantly changes the energy of the conversation—and it costs nothing.

Listen to the full episode on The Gabby Reece Show, available wherever you listen to podcasts.