You Already Know What to Do, So What's Stopping You?
- Jul 14
- 9 min read
Mica Armstrong is a multidisciplinary health professional with a BSc in European Public Health and an MSc in Health Education and Promotion. She explores the intersection of behavioural science, brain health, and holistic wellbeing to advance a more integrated future for human and planetary health.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where, on paper, making a simple behaviour change should be straightforward, yet in practice it is quite the opposite? You are not alone.
Every year, millions of people promise themselves that they will finally make healthier choices, only to find themselves stuck in the same patterns months or even years later.
Throughout this article, an Integrative Transformation Coach helps you understand why knowledge alone is often not enough to create new habits and what behavioural science teaches us about sustainable change.
1. Why knowing better is not enough
As someone trained in Health Education and Promotion, one of the most common difficulties I have encountered among individuals, myself included, is the belief that the right education alone can change an outcome. We often believe that once we have information, making healthier choices will be easier.
Yet, in this age of information, many of us still find it difficult to eat healthily, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, quit smoking, or reduce our alcohol intake. The challenge is not obtaining information about the intended behaviour change; it is transforming that knowledge into consistent action. This disconnect is known as the intention-action gap, the space between wanting change and living a changed life.
While gathering information is an important step towards behaviour change, our decisions beyond this are shaped by our habits, emotions, confidence, social settings, and external environment. Understanding the complexities behind our behaviour and learning which next steps are right for us individually are crucial to ensuring a smooth and sustainable change process with as little self-blame as possible.
2. Are you trying to change the wrong way?
Health advice is now constantly available at the press of a button. A quick search or question posed to an AI tool can provide us with unlimited workout plans, nutrition guides, or wellness routines, yet many of us still struggle to make lasting behaviour changes. One reason is that we often receive generalised advice that assumes the same solutions will work for every individual.
Realistically, behaviour change is an extremely personal process. Our lifestyles, values, personalities, responsibilities, motivations, and mindsets are all unique. What works well for one individual may be unrealistic or ineffective for the next. Before deciding how to change, it is crucial to first understand who you currently are and what influences your behaviour.
In my journey from “not an exercise person” to “frequent gymgoer,” it was necessary for me to analyse my mindset specifically and understand how that mindset had developed throughout my childhood and adolescence. For years, I genuinely believed I simply was not “a gym person.” Looking back, that was not a personality trait; it was a story I had built from years of negative experiences in physical education. Once I understood the roots of my beliefs, I could begin to understand how to change them.
What really motivates you?
To begin, it is important to understand what drives you. For some behaviour changes, we may have an internal desire to change, known as intrinsic motivation, such as wanting to improve our health, become stronger, or live in alignment with our values.
In other situations, motivation may come from external sources, known as extrinsic motivation, such as losing weight for an event, avoiding criticism, receiving praise, or responding to economic factors. Although both can encourage action, behaviours driven by intrinsic motivation are often easier to sustain because they are personally meaningful rather than dependent on external rewards.
Even with the strongest internal motivations, the barriers that hold us back cannot simply be ignored. Whether it is time constraints, financial issues, daily responsibilities, poor sleep, stress, or a lack of encouragement and support, each barrier should be acknowledged not as an excuse but as a reality that can be adapted to or taken into account. The most effective health changes are realistic and sustainable, and they take your life into account rather than attempting to alter it radically.
It is helpful to remember that our motivations are also flexible. In my case, I was able to redefine what motivated me by getting creative. Initially, my motivations surrounding exercise were more external. I wanted to impress my dad, a triathlete who competes frequently and has even raced for the national team. I was able to reframe this and transform it into an internal motivation: wanting to remain fit and active in the later years of my life and continuing to push my boundaries and capabilities to new levels as I age.
3. Does your brain even believe the risk?
Knowing that a behaviour is unhealthy does not always provide enough reason to change it. We may recognise that a risk is present, but we can downplay it by asking questions such as, “How likely is it that this would happen to me?” or “Is it really that big an issue?” When we perceive a risk as less severe, we are less likely to make a change, even when we know that changing would be best for us.
In the case of eating a healthier diet, most of us understand which foods are considered healthy or unhealthy and what constitutes a balanced diet. However, the consequences of eating unhealthy foods can often go unnoticed, become the new “normal,” or seem to lie in the distant future. The comfort of staying the same, however, is certainly the path of least resistance.
Overall, behavioural science suggests that people may be more ready to make a behaviour change when they believe a risk applies to them and understand how changing could improve the outcome. You can assess how you perceive a health risk by asking yourself whether you believe the risk of not changing truly applies to you, what would make the risk feel more personally relevant, and whether you are focusing on the short-term inconvenience or the long-term benefit.
4. Confidence comes before consistency
Once you have navigated your personal motivations and adjusted your perception of risk accordingly, the next question becomes: do you believe you can actually change?
This concept is known in behavioural science as self-efficacy, and it plays a key role in whether we take action and sustain that action. It is not just about being confident in yourself or optimistic about your abilities. It is about truly believing that you will be able to overcome the challenges and barriers that may arise during your behaviour change process.
The more capable we feel, the more prepared we are to change, persist, and recover. On the other hand, if we feel overwhelmed or feel that a goal is out of reach, we are more likely to quit along the way.
Luckily, there are many ways to strengthen our self-efficacy. For example, you can break a big goal into smaller, more achievable goals; learn from and speak with others who have navigated similar challenges; monitor your progress; and celebrate your wins.
Building evidence that behaviour change is possible and that you are capable of changing is far more effective than marching into battle unarmed. Perfection is not something that should be expected instantly, nor is it something we should wait for before we start acting. It is something we develop because of our actions.
Throughout my exercise transformation, working on my self-efficacy has been, and continues to be, a major factor. At first, I was clueless about the gym, and my confidence was extremely low. With support from an experienced friend, I began attending the gym when I could and slowly built my confidence with different techniques and machines. It was not until months later that I felt prepared to get my own gym membership, and even with my newfound confidence, I still felt anxious about attending alone.
5. Your habits are shaping many decisions for you
Once we believe in ourselves and our ability to change, the next step is to maintain the behaviour change we are making. We may assume that our daily choices are directed by conscious decisions, but many of our behaviours are influenced by automatic and nonconscious processes. Our habits are strengthened through repetition, and the more a habit is repeated, the less conscious effort may be required to complete the task.
This is why conscious decisions alone are often not enough to ensure lasting behaviour change. Instead of trying to eliminate an unwanted behaviour, you might try to create a new routine that is simple and easy to repeat.
For existing habits that you may need to adapt or eliminate, start by reflecting on them. At what moment do you feel compelled to act? What triggers the behaviour? What replacements seem reasonable and aligned with your goals?
Small, consistent actions may seem insignificant at first, but when repeated, they can become automatic and require less energy. Ask yourself: what small, healthy behaviour is repeatable on a daily basis?
6. Stop relying on motivation
We are often sold the idea that motivation is the key to successful behaviour change, yet motivation alone is not a reliable foundation for long-term, sustainable change.
Motivation is a crucial starting point for behaviour change, helping us create new goals and begin a new habit. However, our motivation fluctuates daily, depending on the demands of our everyday lives. If we rely solely on motivation, maintaining consistency can become difficult.
When inspired, focus on establishing a personalised system that supports your goals. Establish routines that require little decision-making, prepare for barriers and obstacles, and build them into your existing schedule instead of redefining everything. Consistency can also be encouraged by creating accountability and having a support system.
Sharing goals with friends, working with a coach, monitoring your progress, and celebrating wins with your community and peers are all great methods for supporting sustainable change and building positive habits that become part of your identity.
Throughout my exercise journey, I have had to learn how to work with my natural cycles and adjust my workouts based on how I feel. I frequently found that around the time of my period, I felt more tired and less willing to go to the gym. For me, this means that I still attend the gym during this time, but I treat myself with more grace if I do not feel as successful as I usually would. Attending the gym becomes a win to celebrate rather than achieving a personal best.
7. Your environment is shaping your behaviour
Your everyday environment is also a powerful influence that often goes overlooked. Your surroundings shape the decisions you make, from the foods you eat to the people you spend time with and the habits you develop.
Making small adjustments to your environment can support your goals, such as placing healthy foods in visible locations, leaving your sports gear by the door, or surrounding yourself with others who engage in healthy behaviours. In behavioural science, these types of small environmental changes are often called nudges. They can make desirable behaviours easier and less desirable behaviours harder.
Elements of your wider environment, including your neighbourhood, friends, family, workplace, and culture, can also influence your health behaviours. When you work with your environment and adapt it to promote healthier choices, those choices can become easier to make.
Once you begin to recognise less healthy influences in your environment, it becomes easier to develop a plan for managing them. For example, when you recognise that the sweets and chocolate aisle is on one of the main routes to the checkout in the supermarket, you may find it easier to consciously take a different route and avoid temptation.
8. Sustainable change is designed, not forced
Building change that lasts can take time. It is rarely achieved through short bursts of motivation or an entire lifestyle restructure. Small, intentional, repeated actions are the foundations of lasting change.
Life can be unpredictable, and sustainable change allows for that. During difficult times, old habits can resurface, and momentarily falling back into them does not equate to failure. It is how you respond to these moments that matters. Staying flexible and adapting to your capabilities and circumstances at each moment are key parts of the learning process.
Above all, acknowledging and celebrating your progress is essential. Celebrating smaller milestones reinforces your healthy behaviours and reminds you that behaviour change is taking place. Longer-term reflection can also be helpful as you navigate your journey towards healthier behaviours. Over time, this can help you recognise a more significant achievement.
The next time you feel that you are not successfully making the changes you wish to make to your health behaviours, avoid blaming yourself or speaking negatively to yourself. Instead, ask yourself, “What system have I built to support me through this period of change?”
Behaviour change is not about completely redefining who you are; it is about creating a life in which your healthiest behaviours are the easiest to perform.
Are you feeling inspired?
If this article has encouraged you to reflect on your own health behaviours, perhaps it is time to take the next step. Creating sustainable behaviour change does not require more willpower; it requires the right strategy, support, and a deeper understanding of what drives your behaviour.
Through personalised coaching, brain health analytics, and a holistic, evidence-informed approach to wellbeing, I help individuals move beyond short-term motivation to create meaningful, lasting transformation. If you are ready to better understand yourself and build habits that truly support your health, I would love to support you on that journey.
Visit my website to learn more about my coaching services or book your consultation. Your future self will thank you.
Read more from Mica Armstrong
Mica Armstrong, Integrative Transformation Coach
Mica Armstrong is a multidisciplinary health professional with a BSc in European Public Health and an MSc in Health Education and Promotion. Combining expertise in behavioural science, brain health coaching, and holistic wellbeing, she explores evidence-informed approaches to lasting health and sustainable behaviour change. Through her writing, coaching, and educational work, she advocates for a more integrated future where human and planetary health are recognised as deeply interconnected. Her mission is to empower individuals and communities to create meaningful, lasting transformation.
