Have you ever been really motivated to change something? You decide: “That’s it. Tomorrow I’m going to do things differently!” Perhaps you’re going to stop snacking, start exercising, eat more healthily, quit smoking, spend less time scrolling on your phone, or finally tackle that job you’ve been putting off. And for a while, you’re absolutely determined.
Then… life happens.
You’re tired. You’re stressed. Someone brings biscuits into the office. The sofa looks particularly inviting. Or that little voice in your head says, “I’ll start again tomorrow.”
Does this sound familiar?
If you’ve been blaming yourself because your motivation disappeared, perhaps you were blaming the wrong thing! 😂 You see, the problem isn’t necessarily that you’re lacking motivation. It’s expecting motivation to carry you… all the way to a new habit.
Motivation is a great starter – but a poor long-term strategy!
Motivation can be incredibly powerful. It helps us make a decision and take that first step. But motivation naturally fluctuates. Some days we’re enthusiastic and full of energy. Other days we’re tired, distracted, stressed or simply not in the mood. That’s why relying on motivation alone can make changing a habit feel like a constant battle of willpower.
Recent research into habit formation gives us a much more useful way of looking at this. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that developing automaticity around healthy behaviours can take considerably longer than the popular “21 days” idea suggests – and the time varies enormously depending on the behaviour and the individual. [1]
In other words, repetition and consistency matter far more than waiting until you feel motivated.
Your brain loves a familiar pattern
Habits are strongly connected to context. You might always have something sweet with your afternoon coffee. You might automatically reach for your phone when you’re bored. You might light a cigarette when you’re stressed or have a drink when you’ve had a difficult day. Eventually, the situation or feeling itself can become a cue for the behaviour.
Research published in 2024 explains that habits can reduce the amount of conscious effort required to perform a behaviour. Once something becomes habitual, we don’t necessarily have to think about it very much – it can become almost automatic. [2] And that’s why simply telling yourself “I’m not going to do that anymore!” isn’t always enough.
You’re not just fighting a lack of motivation You’re trying to change a habitual pattern.
So what works better?
Rather than depending on motivation, it helps to build an environment and a routine that support the behaviour you actually want. And that might mean:
- identifying the situations and feelings that trigger an old habit
- creating a different response to those triggers
- repeating the new behaviour consistently
- making the desired behaviour easier
- reducing opportunities for the old behaviour
- using reminders, cues and rewards
- and, importantly, changing the way you think and feel about the behaviour.
A 2024 review of behaviour-change interventions found that goal setting, self-monitoring, prompts and cues, intentions and positive reinforcement were among the techniques commonly used to support habit formation. [3] So perhaps the better question isn’t:
“How can I become more motivated?”
but: “How can I make the desired behaviour I want easier and more automatic?”
And this is where hypnotherapy gets interesting…
Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand – and nobody should promise that hypnosis will simply “switch off” a habit. But hypnosis can be used as part of a broader approach to changing those automatic thoughts, associations, responses and behaviours. That fits particularly well with the way we now understand habits:
Rather than simply trying to force ourselves not to do something, we can work on the patterns and triggers underneath the behaviour.
There is encouraging research here, although the evidence varies depending on the behaviour and the quality of the studies. For example, a 2025 systematic review of hypnotherapy for smoking cessation identified 63 relevant papers. The authors concluded that the evidence was promising, while also pointing out that more high-quality research using objectively verified smoking abstinence is needed. [4]
Research into hypnosis alongside behavioural approaches for weight management has also produced interesting results, although findings are mixed. One randomised controlled trial found that adding self-hypnosis to a lifestyle programme did not produce a statistically significant additional weight-loss benefit after one year. [5] And that’s actually important.
And here’s something I find particularly interesting: research studies have to be designed in a very specific way. To make the results scientifically measurable, researchers generally need to give participants a standardised “intervention”. So one group will receive excatly the same “script”.
But real-life hypnotherapy doesn’t have to work that way. A good therapist can tailor the work to the individual – because your reasons for eating, smoking, procrastinating or repeating an unwanted habit aren’t necessarily the same as someone else’s. Good hypnotherapy isn’t about pretending that changing behaviour is effortless. And the above research mentions this.
It’s about helping you change the patterns that make the desired behaviour feel automatic – while giving you practical strategies to support the change.
You don’t have to wait until you’re motivated
So, if you’ve been thinking: “I know what I should do. I just can’t seem to make myself do it consistently.” Please don’t automatically conclude that you’re lazy, weak-willed or lacking discipline.
You may simply be trying to change an established habit using a tool – motivation – that was never designed to do the whole job.
Whether you want to change your relationship with food, stop snacking, quit smoking, reduce procrastination, spend less time glued to your phone, or finally get yourself moving more, the same principle applies:
You don’t need more willpower. You need a better strategy for changing the pattern.
And if you’ve tried doing it on your own and keep ending up back where you started… well, that’s what we’re here for!
At Alpha Hypnosis, we use hypnotherapy alongside practical behaviour-change strategies to help you understand and change the patterns behind those unwanted habits.
If you’re ready to stop relying on motivation alone, or you’d simply like to try a different strategy, get in touch. We’d love to help you get started.