By Dr. Mark Atkinson, Integrative Medicine Consultant, Medical Advisor to LiveHelfi & Co-Founder The School of Biohacking
After twenty-plus years in integrative medicine, I've learned something that might surprise you: the patients who transform their health aren't necessarily the most motivated ones. They're not the people who read every health book or follow the latest health trends.
They're the ones who've figured out how to work with their biology, not against it.
I see this pattern frequently. Someone decides they're going to overhaul their entire life—new way of eating, activity routine, mindfulness practice, the works. Three weeks later? They're back where they started, maybe feeling a bit worse about themselves.
Here's the thing: it's not about willpower. It never was.
Why your brain fights change (even good change)
I remember early in my practice, I'd get frustrated when patients didn't follow through on recommendations that I believed could support them. "If they just understood the science," I'd think, "they'd do it."
Turns out I was missing something important. The researchers at the Alan Turing Institute put it perfectly: facts don't change minds. At least, not on their own.
Your brain has one primary job: keeping you alive. And from your brain's perspective, familiar equals safe. Even if "familiar" means feeling tired, stressed, or out of balance. Change, even positive change, can register as a potential threat.
In my practice, I see this frequently. A patient will say, "I know I should be more active, but..." or "I bought all these supplements, but I keep forgetting to take them." That "but" isn't weakness. It's your nervous system doing exactly what it's designed to do: maintain stability.
The National Institutes of Health has been studying this through their Science of Behavior Change programme. What they've found is fascinating: sustained change depends on three key systems working well—your ability to self-regulate, how you manage stress, and your social connections.
When any of these systems are under strain—perhaps through ongoing tiredness, low mood, or feeling isolated—change becomes much harder. Not impossible. Just harder.
The identity shift that changes everything
Here's where it gets interesting. People really can change. I've seen it many times. But the changes that last aren't about adding new behaviours to your life. They're about becoming someone different.
The Templeton Foundation found that lasting change happens when three things align: you believe change is possible, you have support, and—most importantly—your sense of who you are begins to shift.
I have patients who go from "I'm trying to eat better" to "I'm someone who takes care of what I eat." Sounds subtle, right? But that shift in identity—from trying to being—changes everything. Your actions start flowing from who you are, not from what you think you should do.
Starting small is the way
This is where most people go wrong. They aim big. New Year's resolution big. "I'm going to meditate for 30 minutes every morning, work out five times a week, and completely change my diet."
Your brain hears that and essentially says, "Absolutely not."
BJ Fogg, who developed the Tiny Habits method at Stanford, figured this out. He created this simple formula: Behaviour = Motivation + Ability + Prompt. Most people try to solve behaviour change by increasing motivation. But motivation is unreliable. It comes and goes.
Instead, Fogg suggests making the behaviour so small that motivation becomes almost irrelevant.
In my practice, I might tell someone who wants to start taking supplements: "Put your magnesium capsule next to your toothbrush. After you brush your teeth at night, take it. That's it."
Or for someone wanting to meditate: "After you sit down at your computer in the morning, take one heart-centred conscious breath whilst feeling gratitude."
You might be thinking: one breath? One supplement? What's the point?
The point is momentum. The point is building the neural pathway that says, "I'm someone who follows through on commitments to myself." Start there. Everything else builds from that foundation.
The biology of behaviour change
Here's something that’s often overlooked: your ability to create new habits isn't just psychological—it’s also linked to your physical state.
I've worked with patients who were doing everything "right"—tiny habits, clear identity, good systems—but still finding it difficult. When we looked deeper, we’d often find patterns such as irregular energy levels, poor sleep quality, or a nervous system that seemed on high alert.
Your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain involved in decision-making and self-control, can be affected by how you’re feeling physically. Disrupted sleep, energy swings, or ongoing stress can all make it harder to follow through consistently.
This is why I often start with foundations: supporting steady energy through balanced eating, encouraging relaxation techniques, and helping people improve their sleep environment. Sometimes, a person benefits from establishing a calming evening routine before they can settle into meditation. Sometimes they need a steadier daily rhythm before maintaining a particular eating plan feels sustainable.
At LiveHelfi, we've carefully selected supplements that people choose to include as part of their own wellbeing routines—such as Lion’s Mane and rhodiola, botanicals with a long tradition of use, and high‑quality magnesium blends that contribute to a normal energy‑yielding metabolism, help reduce tiredness and fatigue, and support normal muscle and nervous‑system function.
These aren’t magic solutions, but when your body feels more supported, the process of change can feel less like an uphill struggle.
How I help patients design change that sticks
Over the years, I've developed a simple approach that works. Not because it's revolutionary, but because it's realistic.
First, we get clear on identity. Not goals—identity. Who do you want to become? Someone who prioritises their wellbeing? Someone who makes commitments and follows through?
Make it felt, not just thought.
Next, we start tiny. Very tiny. But we anchor it to something you already do reliably. "After I pour my morning coffee, I take my Lion's Mane." "After I check my email, I do five squats." "After I brush my teeth, I write down one thing I'm grateful for and allow myself to feel that gratitude."
The key is consistency, not intensity. You're not building a temporary habit; you're building proof that you're the kind of person who follows through.
Then we design for success, not perfection. One missed day isn't failure, it's feedback.
What I've learned after two decades
The people who truly reshape their routines aren't the ones with the most willpower or knowledge. They're the ones who are kind to themselves while staying committed to growth.
They understand that change is a skill you can practise. They know that small actions, repeated consistently, build into meaningful results. They work with their natural rhythms, not against them.
Most importantly, they shift from “trying to change” to becoming the person who lives differently.
Your health isn't just a collection of biomarkers or a number on a scale. It's a daily practice of choosing alignment with who you're becoming. And when you approach change with the right understanding, support and patience with yourself, it stops being something you force and starts being something you flow into.
That’s when transformation becomes not just possible, but inevitable.
Resources
-
Templeton Foundation: Can People Really Change?
-
Science of Behavior Change (NIH): scienceofbehaviorchange.org
-
Alan Turing Institute: Facts Don't Change Minds
-
Fogg, BJ. Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
-
Clear, James. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
