How To Break Bad Habits For Good

In 1977, Dr. Dean Ornish, a medical student at the time, landed an internship with one of the world’s most renowned heart surgeons, Dr. Michael DeBakey.

Day after day, he watched patients come to the hospital with severe chest pains caused by blocked coronary arteries (which supply blood to the heart muscle).

Assisting Dr. Michael, they would perform a complex surgery where a healthy blood vessel (often from the leg or arm) was taken and attached around the blocked artery, creating a new route for blood to flow to the heart muscle.

But something troubled Dean.

Even after these life-saving operations, many patients returned months later with the same (and sometimes worse) symptoms, needing the same procedure done.

The reason? After the patients got the surgery and experienced relief from their symptoms, they’d go back to their lifestyles—eating the same food, not managing stress, not exercising, smoking.

Dean couldn’t shake the thought that they were just treating the symptoms instead of addressing the underlying issue—their lifestyles.

An Unconventional Experiment

Determined to find an alternative, Dean took a break from his internship to run a small experiment.

He gathered 10 patients who suffered from severe heart disease (they would experience severe chest pains seven to ten times a day).

Instead of sending them into another surgery, he moved into a hotel with them for 30 days.

During their stay, he did 3 things:

• He hired a chef who’d prepare low-fat vegetarian meals for them,

• Every morning and evening, he would lead them in yoga and exercise classes, while educating them on their benefits,

• And every evening, the patients would have group meetings where they’d share their struggles and progress.

At the end of the 30 days, the results were mind-blowing.

The frequency of chest pains among the patients had decreased by 91%.

The experiment wasn’t all perfect, though. Some patients still snuck to the hotel’s restaurant for pizza and beer.

But despite that, their health improved dramatically.

After this initial experiment, Dean went on to perform larger studies.

Each time, the results were the same—lower cholesterol levels, fewer symptoms, and long-term behavior change.

Long after the end of the experiments, the participants continued to practice yoga or meditation for two hours a week, and the amount of dietary fat intake had significantly reduced.

The 3 Keys to Lasting Change

This isn’t a call to adopt a vegetarian diet or start doing yoga.

What we can learn from Dean’s study are the 3 fundamental things that made the experiment so effective—3 ways to break bad habits and build better ones:

1. Surround yourself with like-minded people

When you’re trying to change your habits, your environment matters.

Dr. Dean placed his patients in a setting where everyone was working toward the same goal. They ate together, exercised together, and talked about their struggles together.

This did two things: It made them feel less alone and kept them accountable.

For whatever change you’re trying to make, find people who are trying to do the same thing or who are already doing what you want to do.

• Join a group—a fitness class, an online community, or even a group chat with like-minded friends.

• Follow inspiring people—consuming content from those who live the way you want to live can reinforce your belief that change is possible.

• Find an accountability partner—someone who will check in with you and keep you on track.

2. Make the change repeatable

Dr. Dean’s experiment worked because his patients repeated their new habits daily.

Why does repetition matter? Because change isn’t a one-time event.

The bad habits you’re trying to break weren’t formed overnight, so don’t expect to undo them in a day.

Lasting change requires you to build new neural pathways in your brain through repetition.

The more you repeat a habit, the stronger the neural pathways become, until eventually, it feels automatic.

Big, drastic changes never stick because they’re really hard to repeat.

Instead, make small changes—go to bed 30 minutes earlier, drink a glass of water after waking up, eat one fruit every day.

Small habits are easy to repeat. And a habit that’s easy to repeat is easy to keep.

3. Create a new identity

One of the biggest barriers to change is how we see ourselves.

Dr. Dean’s patients initially didn’t believe they had control over their health. His biggest challenge wasn’t just changing their habits—it was changing their beliefs about themselves.

As the patients followed their new routine and begun to see their symptoms improve, their mindset started to shift.

They stopped seeing themselves just as “heart disease patients” and started believing they were capable of change. This new belief reinforced their new habits.

Your identity (the type of person you believe you are) influences your behavior.

If you believe you’re “not a morning person,” you’ll struggle to wake up early. If you see yourself as “someone who hates working out,” exercise will always feel like a chore.

To build lasting habits, you need to create a new identity—start believing new things about yourself.

For example, if you’re trying to eat healthier, start identifying as someone who fuels your body well. If you’re trying to exercise more, start identifying as someone who moves every day.

Decide the type of person you want to be, and as you start to think of yourself in this new way, you’ll begin to find it easier to align your actions with that new identity.

Your Challenge

If you’re struggling to change, ask yourself:

• Who am I surrounding myself with?

• Is my habit small and repeatable?

• What identity am I reinforcing?

Once you align these 3 things, change will stop feeling like an uphill battle.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found something valuable :)

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