Every January, the world seems to split into two groups: those who are buzzing with fresh resolutions… and those who are already exhausted by the pressure to reinvent themselves.

I’ve been in both camps and so have you I am guessing.

My own journey with habits always seems to begin with a New Year’s, feeling rather than a resolution.  Moments of truth and realisation that I needed to make a change of some sort.   Private moments where I realised something had to shift.

I've done it a few times now.  I didn’t know it then, but those single decision would become the catalyst for a complete transformation each time I made the simple decision that something needed to change.

• I lost weight started Jan 9th 2020
• I became an athlete in my forties 2021
• I experimented with removing alcohol by doing Dry January 2022
• I retrained started Jan 2023

None of that happened because I “tried harder.”

It happened because I understood the science of behaviour change,  and I learned how to work with my brain instead of against it.

Why Habit Change Isn’t About Willpower

Most people think habits fail because they lack discipline, but the truth is far more compassionate, and far more empowering.

Habits fail because we try to change the behaviour without changing the conditions that drive it.

When I stopped drinking, it wasn’t willpower that carried me through. It was understanding my triggers, my emotional patterns, my identity, and the environments that shaped my choices. It was learning to regulate discomfort and how I felt instead of numbing it. It was building systems that supported the person I wanted to become.

This is the heart of behavioural change:

You don’t simply rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. And it's those systems that are built on what I see as the seven key foundations for change, the same seven areas I explore in my new YouTube series throughout January 2026.

The 7 areas are; Identity, environment, emotional regulation, mindset & beliefs, motivation & reward, structure & systems, community & accountability

Mindset: The Quiet Engine Behind Every Habit

If there’s one thing my journey has taught me, it’s this:  Mindset is everything, hence being a Positive Mindset Coach!

Not the fluffy, “think positive and everything will be fine” kind of mindset, that is not positive psychology.

 
I’m talking about the deep, grounded belief that you are capable of change, and that you deserve the life you’re trying to build.

When I started running, I didn’t feel like an athlete exactly but I told myself I was an athlete.

When I retrained, I didn’t have all the skills of a coach on day 1 but I believed I was becoming a great coach.

When I began Dry January, I didn’t feel like someone who could go alcohol‑free for a month, but I kept showing up and I kept the ritual but dropped the alcohol.

And every time I did something to support my new choice, my identity shifted, not because I forced it, but because I proved to myself, one tiny action at a time, that I was becoming someone new.

Positivity isn’t the goal, Positivity is the by product of self‑trust, and self‑trust is built through consistent, compassionate action.

The Power of Understanding Your Own Behaviour

One of the most liberating parts of my journey was learning the science behind habits.  Once you understand them it becomes easier and you become more in control of what you are choosing to do.

Understanding why I reached for certain behaviours helped me stop judging myself and start supporting myself.

When you understand your triggers, your emotional patterns, your environment, and your beliefs, you stop feeling like you’re fighting yourself. You start feeling like you’re partnering with yourself.

That’s why I created the Habit Reset Companion and the Habit Reset YouTube series,  to give you the tools, the insight, and the structure that I wish I’d had at the beginning.  Sustainable change isn’t about perfection, it’s about awareness, compassion, and alignment.

This year, I’m inviting you to approach January differently.  Not with pressure, not with unrealistic expectations, but with curiosity, clarity, and a willingness to explore what’s possible when you understand how habits actually work, how you work, simply put you are human and you are programmed to behave in certain ways, understanding that helps you rewrite your programming.

Throughout January, I’ll be releasing a series of videos that walk you through the seven key areas of behavioural change, the same foundations that transformed my life.  These videos and the journal can be used at anytime, they are not specific to January or taking a break from alcohol, they are practical tools that are designed to help you make changes when you are ready to do so.

You can watch the full series on my YouTube channel, and you can download the free Habit Reset Companion Journal to support you as you go.

And if you feel called to go deeper, if you want personalised support, accountability, and a space to explore your own behavioural patterns, you’re welcome to reach out and explore working with me. No pressure. No push. Just an open door.

Because you deserve to become who you are here to be.

And I’d love to walk alongside you as you do.  Habit change is not easy but if you understand yourself, and you change just a few things and consistently show up for you, you can do anything.

Take care, your coach Zena