Become Unrecognizable in 6 Months! (36 minutes that will change your life)

Most New Year’s resolutions don’t fail because you lack discipline—they fail because your brain was never taught how to change. If you’ve ever felt motivated in January but stuck by February, neuroscience explains exactly why. In this episode, Dr. Josh Axe reveals the science, psychology, and faith-based framework that helps habits finally stick—for good. Watch The Dr. Josh Axe Show every Monday & Thursday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjoshaxe 🎧 Early Access! Our podcast listeners get every episode early, and you can tune in and be a part of our exclusive listeners below → Spotify: https://bit.ly/DrJoshAxeSpotify Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3JDvWcS Order my NEW BOOK, The Biblio Diet → https://bit.ly/4oPEP3t Watch my free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms →http://DrAxeDiabetesClass.com Discover practical steps you can take today to start healing your thyroid naturally → DrAxeThyroidClass.com If you’re ready to start feeling like yourself again and balance your hormones, take my free class → DrAxeHormoneClass.com Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → http://MyBloodWork.com CONNECT WITH DR. JOSH AXE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjoshaxe/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJoshAxe/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedrjoshaxeshow/ X: https://x.com/drjoshaxe/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshaxe Website: http://thehealthinstitute.com Sign up for my newsletter: https://bit.ly/4oE9Jf3 Ask me a question: http://speakpipe.com/drjoshaxe Books to read… “and David Perceived He was King” → https://a.co/d/dNTQw8T Dopamine Nation (Dr. Anna Lembke) → https://a.co/d/hGuAVDV Atomic Habits (James Clear) → https://a.co/d/iZLmsqK Think This Not That → https://a.co/d/2vh1aMF Go listen to my episode on how to not waste your life → https://youtu.be/DUy1gfkMUZA?si=z0E9Qmexb2j3Ix5O Go watch my recent episode to figure out which habits you should bring into 2026 → https://youtu.be/XaBgATFJb6c?si=ERNxE9485jC_ACnJ Go watch my interview with Justin Whitmel Earley to hear his advice on the top habits you need to implement this year to level up your life → https://youtu.be/lpOwUNORV_E?si=h0TS6_m9niydxK_s DISCLAIMER This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Josh Axe and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Axe nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Speaker 00

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• 0:45Speaker 02

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• 1:15Josh Axe?

  Imagine what your life could look like six months from now if you actually stuck to your New Year's resolutions. Picture yourself with the weight lost, or the diabetes reversed, or your thyroid healed because you stayed consistent with your plan. Or imagine having more patience and joy because you started reading your Bible every day, praying with your spouse, or walking after dinner instead of scrolling on your phone. Take a second and really visualize that version of you. How does your body feel? What does your day look like? What kind of peace do you carry with you? Now here's the reality check.

• 1:56Josh Axe?

  Every year, around 80% of people give up on their New Year's resolutions by February. Today, I'm going to be showing you how to avoid being that 80% and become the 20% who follow through and experience transformation. The problem isn't that you're lazy. It's not a lack of motivation. It's that most of us don't understand how our brains are wired for change. So in this episode, we're going to be unpacking the psychology and neuroscience behind habits, addictions, and resolutions. And we're going to walk through together why dopamine drives both discipline and destruction,

• 2:35Josh Axe?

  how to rewire your brain for consistency, why goals must be specific and measurable and how to set those, and the proven steps to finally make new habits stick. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Ak Show.

• 3:06Speaker 04

  This episode is brought to you by Welch's Fruit Snacks. Big news for your kid's lunchbox. Welch's Fruit Snacks are now made without any artificial dyes. A snack parents can feel good about and the same delicious taste kids can't get enough of. All made with no artificial dyes. Try Welch's Fruit Snacks today.

• 3:27Speaker 05

  Now streaming. Disney Plus invites you to go behind the scenes with Taylor Swift in an exclusive six-episode docu-series.

• 3:35Speaker 06

  I wanted to give something to the fans that they didn't expect. The only thing left is to close the book.

• 3:41Speaker 05

  The end of an era.

• 3:44Speaker 05

  And don't miss Taylor Swift: The Era's Tour. The final show, featuring for the first time the tortured poets department.

• 3:53Josh Axe?

  Now streaming only on Disney+ Hey, if you've ever felt like you've lost your rhythm in life, your structure, your confidence, your clarity, then this story about Michael Phelps, I think is really going to resonate with you. You know, I had an amazing opportunity many years ago, this was in 2012, to meet Michael Phelps and work on many of the Olympic swimmers and give them some nutrition advice as well. And so I was able to watch Michael from afar and just really admire his work ethic and his discipline. But what most people don't know about Michael Phelps as the most decorated Olympian of all time is that he really struggled after he retired from swimming. After retirement,

• 4:34Josh Axe?

  he went through a very public struggle with depression and alcohol. He reached a point of deep emptiness and literally almost lost everything. And here's what's most powerful about his amazing story, though. Michael Phelps rebuilt his life by mastering daily discipline. He didn't just decide to be better one time, he actually built healthy habits. He committed to therapy. He built consistent morning and evening routines. He practiced meditation, and he leaned on faith and the support around him. He proved something powerful. Change isn't about intensity, it's about consistency. And now you can see Michael with his wife and his kids, and he's happy, and he's productive, even after his amazing swimming career. And

• 5:19Josh Axe?

  this is something, by the way, a lot of athletes and people struggle with. They had something they loved in life that they were thriving in, and maybe they aged out of it, or they reached a new point in their life, and now things aren't the same, and they're in an area of struggle. And I know to a degree, that's something that I've been through in my life, maybe that's something you've been through, as you've gone through different phases in life. But the reality is this, is each new season can be better than the season before. You know, I love what the Bible says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." This is Proverbs 23:7. This verse really tells us, our mindset, our thoughts, what we think about, that's who we become. That impacts our behavior. And that's the blueprint of

• 6:03Josh Axe?

  transformation. Our identity impacts our thoughts. Our thoughts impact our actions. Our actions create our habits, and that creates our destiny and our future. Your habits are the fruit. Your beliefs and thought patterns are the root.

• 6:22Josh Axe?

  Every habit follows a three-step loop. Okay, here's what happens. You get a cue to do something. That creates a routine, which then creates a reward. I'll give you an example of this. Every morning I see my wife. I get to see a woman that is incredibly holy and in love with God and a great mom. And that is a cue for me to become a better father, a better husband, a better person. And just being around her. And then that causes me to even lean into my Bible more and growing more in that way. And maybe there's other things like this. You know, I saw my friend, one of my closest friends, Dan. You know, I saw him in the gym this morning and I see him working out hard. It cued me to work hard and then I had a reward because I worked really hard.

• 7:03Josh Axe?

  So we actually have to have these cues and routines in our life in order to create healthy habits. You know, your brain is always trying to conserve energy. And once something is repeated often enough, it moves from the conscious effort part of your brain, which is your prefrontal cortex, to your automatic behavior part of your brain, which is your basal ganglia. And that's why bad habits feel hardwired and hard to break because they literally are hardwired and hard to break. And studies show that about 43% of daily actions are habitual, not conscious decisions. And it takes an average of 66 days for you to form a new habit.

• 7:47Josh Axe?

  You know, I love this quote by Aristotle. "We are what we repeatedly do." Excellence then is not an act, but a habit. If you want to be excellent, if you want to be great, if you want to thrive in anything in your life, if you want to thrive in your spiritual life, you have to have spiritual habits. If you want to be a great spouse, you have to have habits that make you a better spouse. If you want to grow in business, be successful, or of course, if you want to have a health breakthrough, you have to develop certain types of habits. Everything from exercise to your healthy breakfast, to taking your supplements, to going on daily walks in order to be healthy. You know, the famed psychologist Jordan Peterson echoes what Aristotle said by saying this. "You are not the sum of your intentions.

• 8:32Josh Axe?

  You are the sum of your repeated actions. Your habits define your future."

• 8:38Josh Axe?

  Habits are the architecture of your identity. Now, I want to talk about the role that dopamine plays. Dopamine isn't the pleasure molecule like most people think of it. It's actually the motivation molecule. Dopamine spikes when you anticipate a reward, not when you actually get the reward. That's why scrolling, social media, shopping, or gambling feels addictive because you're chasing the next hit. But what happens over time is your receptors desensitize. Um, real life starts to feel dull. You need bigger stimulation in order to feel like your needs are met. Um, your cravings increase and your motivation drops. But here's the good news.

• 9:21Josh Axe?

  Your brain can be rewired and it's actually called neuroplasticity in the scientific textbooks. Now, neuroplasticity is amazing for everything from creating great habits to actually healing. You know, when I had my life-threatening spinal infection and wasn't able to walk, I really focused on activating neuroplasticity so my brain could start creating new neural pathways in order to heal so I could walk again. And so you really want to leverage dopamine and neuroplasticity in your favor. And according to Dr. Anne Lemke, she writes this in her book Dopamine Nation. "Pleasure and pain are co-located in the brain.

• 10:01Josh Axe?

  Every pleasure experienced must be paid for with an equal pain." This is something Tony Robbins talks about. I remember reading his book many years ago and the book was called Awaken the Giant Within. He said, "Listen, if you want to take action, if you want to create healthy habits, if you want to motivate anybody, people are motivated by two things. Pain and pleasure. People are either trying to do everything they can to avoid pain, whether it's conscious or not." By the way, this is one reason why oftentimes people do not dig back into their past trauma. Because it's painful. It's something they should do. It's going to be very good for them, but there's so much pain that subconsciously they do everything they can

• 10:41Josh Axe?

  to avoid that painful experience again. And on the other hand, there's pleasure. We do things because we want to experience pleasure and both pain and pleasure are great motivators and you want both of those things working for you to create the sort of habits and results that you love, to create the sort of habits and results that you want to experience. One of the single greatest ways to rebalance dopamine levels, by the way, and support your dopamine levels working for you is via delayed gratification. Delayed gratification restores dopamine balance faster than any pill can. So an example of this is if you're addicted to sugar. If you can say, you know what?

• 11:22Josh Axe?

  I'm going to have sugar. Maybe I'm going to have a different form, a healthier form like dark chocolate, but I'm going to wait an hour to eat it. Building that sort of patience and delaying the gratification is one of the greatest ways to break dopamine addiction. I love the way that the Bible puts this in Romans 12 to it says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Well, how do you transform yourself? How do you heal your thyroid? How do you change your blood sugar? How do you have better relationships? How do you transform and become a better person physically, mentally, spiritually? The Bible tells us, renew your mind. How do you renew your mind? One of the greatest ways is via education

• 12:07Josh Axe?

  and constantly educating yourselves, getting around different types, getting around other people that are living out the sort of life you want to live. That's how I found that I renewed my mind. I'll give you an example. If I'm getting negative and starting to be too negative, I'll say to myself, how do I renew my mind? I need to change the sort of music I'm listening to. I'm going to listen to exclusively praise and worship music. How else can I renew my mind and become, have a more positive mindset? I'm going to start doing a gratitude practice. Every morning when I wake up, I'm going to say five things I'm grateful for. And then before bed, I'm going to write down five things I'm grateful for in a gratitude journal.

• 12:42Josh Axe?

  The Bible tells us if you want to be transformed, you need to renew your mind. Here's a reality, your brain can change, which confirms what the Bible teaches us today. Here's why it matters. Intrinsic motivation is driven by purpose and values. And these create lasting change. While extrinsic motivation is driven by rewards or fear, and it fades once the incentive disappears. You know, if I were trying to have a relationship with God, simply because when I was a kid, my dad would discipline me, which he didn't. But if, if my dad was going to discipline me, or be hard on me, or shame or guilt me, because I wasn't going to church. That's extrinsic motivation.

• 13:25Josh Axe?

  Is I only go to church because I know I will be punished if I don't go. Versus intrinsic motivation is me knowing, when I am connecting with God, and I look at my, my, my, my life through a lens. When I am spending the most time with God, it's when I'm the most fulfilled. My life is the most meaningful. I have the most joy in my life. And so I am constantly going to church, reading my Bible, praying with my spouse, doing these things because I truly love God. And I know my life is so much better when I'm deeply connected with Him, right? So, most people focus on these extrinsic motivations. They're driven by guilt and shame from the past, or some sort of punishment, or saying,

• 14:10Josh Axe?

  well, this happens with diet a lot, by the way, too. If somebody's trying to reverse diabetes or lose weight, they start to think, well, I'm gonna get healthy because I don't like the way I look. When I was a kid, somebody told me I was fat. I know I have too much body fat. And so, um, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna try and eat better because I feel such guilt and shame of the way I look and feel. Versus saying, you know what? My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I want to honor God with my body. He's got a great plan and purpose for my life. I know that everything I eat is either fueling me and being, having a better, being a better father, being a better husband, being a better child of God.

• 14:52Josh Axe?

  So when I'm eating, I realize that this is something to help get me where I want to go. Versus, okay, I'm going to try and eat this and sludge through eating this superfood smoothie because I have so much shame and guilt in my life. Extrinsic motivation of pain only lasts a short time. Versus that intrinsic motivating factors like purpose, growth, alignment with your core values. This sustains discipline long-term. Those extrinsic motivations, money, appearance, approval from others, those things burn out fast.

• 15:33Josh Axe?

  Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right? Eating clean, working out, taking all the right supplements, but your body just won't cooperate? Maybe you're tired, you're foggy, you're gaining weight, you can't sleep, and your doctor says your labs are normal? Here's the truth. Normal blood work does not mean your body is operating normally. It just means the levels in your blood work look okay. Not that your cells are actually using them the way they should. It's like using the wrong map and wondering why you're lost. Or putting gas in the tank, but the engine still won't turn over. Because if your cells are inflamed, stressed, or in survival mode, nothing you do will work the way it should. Your body's been whispering for years. Now maybe it's screaming, and you deserve someone who's actually listening.

• 16:18Josh Axe?

  Go to mybloodwork.com and see what your blood work missed. What's really going on beneath the surface? Because you're not crazy, you're not lazy, you're just stuck in a system that was never built to find the problem. It was built to diagnose disease, not restore your health. At mybloodwork.com, we'll show you how to finally get your body and your life back.

• 16:43Josh Axe?

  You know Elon Musk actually put this perfectly here. Here's what he said about this sort of intrinsic, purpose-driven goals versus extrinsic punishment goals. A goal without a deep reason behind it has no power. You need a reason that makes you get out of bed when everyone else is sleeping. You know, have you had that in your life where, I mean, you know, I wake up in the morning excited to get out of bed because I know that the work I'm doing is meaningful. And I know that being a dad is meaningful and a husband's meaningful. I have these things that are incredibly meaningful in my life. So I wake up out of bed with energy and enthusiasm. But I think there's a lot of people getting out of bed in the morning and they don't want to get out of bed.

• 17:27Josh Axe?

  Because they don't have enough purpose and meaning in their life. And you have to build purpose or meaning to live the most powerful life possible. Listen, you're not going to stick to working out just to look good. But if you tie your working out to knowing you're going to be able to play with your kids longer or honor God with your body, that's a good reason. You know, I was thinking about this recently. We are going to Park City. We went last year a couple of times, went snow skiing. My daughter, Arwin, learned that she took snowboarding and snow skiing lessons because I ski and then Chelsea snowboards and we had an amazing time as a family. And one of the things I was thinking about was, man, I want to be snow skiing with my family. I want to be water skiing with my family as well. I want to be active with my family.

• 18:10Josh Axe?

  When I'm in my seventies and eighties and beyond. I want to be doing things not only with my kids now, but with their grandkids. And I'm excited to do that. That's why I'm working out. That's why I'm doing things so I can stay active and athletic. And one of the most important things that I learned while I was dealing with a life-threatening health issue is that our belief and our language create biological feedback loops. The things that come out of your mouth create your future reality. I mean, the Bible says this, "Life and death are in the power of the tongue." Affirmations, prayer, and gratitude literally strengthen your neural pathways for resilience.

• 18:54Josh Axe?

  You know, there's a research study from UC Davis and they showed that gratitude reduces cortisol levels by 23% and increases dopamine sensitivity. Simply being grateful, going for a walk in the morning and saying, "God, I'm so grateful." You know, list off five things. By the way, a 23% drop in cortisol? That's huge. By the way, that's also big if you have hypothyroidism. Cortisol is a main driving factor. If you have high insulin and diabetes, cortisol is a main driving factor. So if you can drop your cortisol by 23% simply by adding in one gratitude practice a day, that's one of the most powerful forms of natural medicine you could ever utilize in your favor.

• 19:36Josh Axe?

  You know, myself and one of my best friends, Jordan Rubin, discussed this in the Bibliodiet. Change doesn't happen out of willpower. It happens out of identity. You know, shifting from things like, "I'm trying to..." "I'm the kind of person who..." or "God wired me to be this way." You know, God called you in the Bible. He says, "You're more than an overcomer in Christ Jesus." So knowing that your identity in Christ, you're a here, a child of God, and what that means for you, your supernatural authority that you have here, when you come into that realization, it shifts everything. There's a book I love on identity that really dives into this, and it's called, "And David perceived he was king by Dale Mast."

• 20:21Josh Axe?

  And this is a book I've read, I've read multiple times as part of different growth groups and leadership groups I've been a part of. And I really like the book because it really helps set in a strong identity. It goes through the life of King David and how he built a strong identity and it impacted his entire life. And so that's one book you may consider. Again, it's called, "And David perceived he was king by Dale Mast." Now, I want to walk you through six steps to overcome bad habits and how to create new and better ones. You know, most people try and break habits by relying on willpower alone, but science shows that willpower is just this finite source. Real transformation happens.

• 21:04Josh Axe?

  When you rewire the brain's reward loops and reshape your identity from the inside out. Number one, here's what you need. You need an identity cue. Two thirds of daily behaviors are done out of habit. Every habit begins with a trigger, something that tells your brain it's time to do the thing. Cues can be emotional, it could be boredom or stress. This is why you jump on your phone and start scrolling or you grab the bag of chips or candy and eat it. They can be environmental, maybe a certain place or time. They can be social, being around certain types of people. But you want to set up these cues in your favor.

• 21:46Josh Axe?

  You know, a simple cue that I have is I have a sort of a daily, I call it my, my weekly war plan in my calendar, where I just know at certain times I'm going to do certain things. So I look at my calendar, said, that's what I do at this time, I go and do it. I mean, you might not think of that as a cue, but that is a cue. Having your calendar in your week planned out of what you're going to do and then going and doing it. That is a great cue. Also, keeping a habit awareness journal helps you uncover hidden cues. When, where, and why a certain habit occurs. For example, do you snack late at night because you're hungry? Or because it's the only time you're alone and decompressing? You know, there's a research study out of Harvard and they found that mindfulness reduced automatic eating behaviors

• 22:30Josh Axe?

  and emotional reactivity by 30%. So mindfulness, again, part of this is just scheduling time to sit. Who am I? What am I doing? Why do I act certain way? What, you know, what are things that I did today that I shouldn't have done? And then thinking out in your mind, how am I going to react tomorrow? Here's an example, you think through yourself earlier in the day. Okay, when I was bored, I spent three hours today scrolling on my phone, wasting time. What am I going to do tomorrow instead? Okay, I am going to put my phone in my bag and I'm going to bring my Bible with me or this book and I'm going to read that when I'm in the subway.

• 23:13Josh Axe?

  Or I'm going to listen to an audio book. I'm going to do, you know, when I'm driving and I'm going to find a good replacement for this. By the way, one of the greatest ways to get rid of old, bad habits is to replace them with new, good habits. Hey, I'm always snacking because I actually am hungry. Well, I'm going to find a healthier snack option. I'm going to do a, here, I'll share something with you. Here's something I had my dad do. My dad loved vanilla Schwanz ice cream. Every night after his dinner, he would eat this Schwanz ice cream and I told him how bad it was for him. But he had this level of addiction. Finally, over time, I started creating this vanilla shake for him that had this protein powder that came from primarily bone broth. It's like a vanilla bone broth protein.

• 23:55Josh Axe?

  And I had him start adding a little bit of sea salt to him, a little bit of coconut milk. And I said, Dad, here's what I want you to do. You can do your ice cream on the weekends, but do this the other nights. He agreed to do it and he was able to do it. He found this good replacement that was healthy, that still satisfied that sort of rich vanilla flavor that he enjoyed. Oftentimes, we just need to swap out the bad with the good. And there's actually a framework for this sort of habit swapping and oftentimes they're called smart habits. Okay, you can't remove a habit. You must replace the routine. Here's a simple example of keeping the same cure and reward, but swapping the routine that happens in between.

• 24:38Josh Axe?

  Here's the cue. You feel stressed after work. Your old routine. You open a bottle of wine. The reward, you feel relaxed and calm. However, now the next day, you don't sleep as well. You're tired. Your blood sugar is off. You have liver inflammation. Not good. Okay, here's the new routine. After work when you stressed, you immediately go for a 15-minute walk, or you take a cold shower, okay? A 15-minute walk while you sing music or something like that, that's the new cue. Same reward, you still get that sense of calm, but without the negative consequences. Number three, do this, rewire the reward loop. Your brain learns the rewards.

• 25:21Josh Axe?

  It releases dopamine then every time you complete a behavior that feels satisfying. To build a new habit, you have to teach your brain that the new routine is rewarding. This is why you want to celebrate small wins and progress. Every micro-success, even checking off your to-do list, triggers a dopamine release reinforcing motivation. So create a little reward for yourself. Hey, you went and exercised all three days this week you had scheduled? Okay, now you get to go and, you know, watch your favorite movie, or get that new pair of running shoes, or rewarding yourself in some way, ideally rewarding yourself with something that is also healthy. Number four, create friction for the bad habits.

• 26:06Josh Axe?

  This is something James Clear talks about in his book, Atomic Habits. He says, "Listen, reduce friction." If in the mornings you feel, and by the way, I've felt this sometimes, there's all these things you have to do before you get to the gym. You know what I do? I get it all ready the night before. I have a protein shake in the fridge already made, that I grab out of the fridge. My running shoes or workout shoes and my socks are sitting there right on the stairs, ready for me to put on. And everything is set up where literally all I have to do is wake up, grab my shake, grab, put my shoes on, and walk right out the door. This can nearly double compliance, because when starting new habits, you want it to be as easy as possible to get started.

• 26:47Josh Axe?

  In a similar way, increasing friction for the bad habits you want to stop, such as adding a password to access social media, can cut usage down significantly. In one study, when people's smartphone internet was blocked, 91% reported that they experienced improvements in mental health. And we're better able to sustain attention. You know, I have some friends of ours where they have this box in their kitchen. And certain hours of the day when they walk in, just like if you go, your kids go to school, they have to put their phones somewhere or put it in some sort of bag. Very similar thing. Everybody has to put their phone in the box during dinner. For instance, there's like a two hour time period where it's all about family, family, family,

• 27:29Josh Axe?

  family dinner, family connection. Then later they can get their phones out, but they have this block where they can't use their phones. It is brilliant and it's great for family time and it's a sort of friction you want to create in order to create better habits. Of course, another example is when it comes to health is getting all the garbage out of your house and literally putting it in the garbage and only having things like fruits and vegetables and natural things in your cabinets, in your refrigerator that you can reach for. Another great action is if you want to reduce social media time, delete apps from your home screen or add a lock timer. Where hey, after one hour of use, it locks. That's a great thing to do.

• 28:12Josh Axe?

  I know many people, I have a family member of mine who does that and it's really helped them stop scrolling. You know, as I was mentioning, James Clear, he also has this great quote in his book about habits. He says, "Design beats discipline." If your life is set up and designed in order to follow through with this habit, it actually is even more effective than being self-disciplined yourself. You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems or habits. So why it's so critical that you create habits? Because habits are what actually allow you to achieve the goal in the first place. Number five, anchor your new habit to your identity. Lasting change doesn't come from saying, "I need to stop this," but from saying,

• 28:56Josh Axe?

  "I am the kind of person who wakes up early and works out every day." Identity-based habits reprogram your subconscious beliefs and those beliefs determine your behavior.

• 29:10Josh Axe?

  Are you interested in functional nutrition tips to burn fat, reduce inflammation, improve your brain and energy levels, and heal naturally? Then I want to encourage you to listen to my friend Dr. Dave Jockers podcast, The Functional Nutrition Podcast. This podcast is designed to help you with easy, actionable steps to improve your nutrition and lifestyle, understand your lab work, and address the root cause factors that may be driving up inflammation in your body. Now, I've been friends with Dr. David Jockers for 20 years, and he's truly a world expert in functional nutrition, cellular healing, and so much more. If you want to learn the best nutrition and natural healing tips, tune into the Dr. Jockers Functional Nutrition Podcast on Apple iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you can listen to podcasts worldwide.

• 29:57Josh Axe?

  You know, I think about myself this way spiritually now, and I wasn't always this way, where I think, "I'm a child of God. I have a great responsibility to love God, love people, literally transform this earth, make it a paradise." I have this identity of great meaning as a father and a husband and a child of God, and that's why I spend a lot of time in my Bible and listening to Spiritual Growth Podcasts and Leadership Things and doing everything I can, because that's who I am as a person. And you're that person as well. You are fit. You are healthy. You are a leader. You are righteous. You are called by God to do extraordinary things, and you need to know that in the

• 30:39Josh Axe?

  depths of your soul, and you do that by creating those habits, staying consistent with those habits, and understanding, "This is the person I am and who God created me to be." Instead of saying, "I'm trying to eat better to lose weight," say, "I'm a person who values my health and takes great care of my body." Instead of, "I need to stop procrastinating," say, "I'm a person who keeps promises to myself and to others." Number six is this, and it's probably one of the most powerful tools for discipline. It's rooted in habits and faith, purpose, and community. When your habits align with your higher purpose and values, discipline becomes devotion.

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  Try having your why be rooted in serving others, honoring God, or living in integrity. This way, your brain gets a deeper sense of reward and meaning that outlasts dopamine spikes. Galatians 6:9 reminds us this, "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." As the Bible also talks about, "Don't store up treasures for yourself on earth, store up treasures for yourself in heaven. There are eternal rewards." Being conscious of this and knowing this is intrinsically motivating. And also, this is so true, the people you spend time around dictate your success and your habits so much.

• 32:01Josh Axe?

  I can tell you, I've had two times in my life, I'm very conscious of right now, where I said, "You know what, this group of people I'm hanging out with, they're not iron sharpens iron. They're not making me better. They're not helping me become more Christ-like and become the best version of myself." So I completely moved away from those people and went and pursued myself and found a new group of friends and sometimes even created the friend group myself. And of all the things I've been done in my life, that's been the most transformative. If you want to change who you are and change your habits, get around other people that are disciplined and have great habits and great virtue themselves. I want you to do something right now. Think about the five people you spend the most time with.

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  Where are they on a scale of 1 to 10 of iron sharpens iron for you? Are they encouraging? Are they helping you achieve your goals and habits? Are they cheering you on? Are they a positive force in your life? Or are they keeping you from doing and living out that God-given purpose in your life? Are they making you a better spouse? Are they making you a better parent? Are they making you more successful in a godly kingdom-driven way? If not, find a new group of peers that are iron sharpens iron for you. From the wisdom of Solomon, as iron sharpens iron, one friend sharpens another. It's so important. You know, there's a study out of Duke University that said, "One of the number one thing, if not the number one thing you can do in order to increase your success is spend time with more disciplined people."

• 33:26Josh Axe?

  Think about this, who do you know in your life? That is disciplined, that is motivated, inspiring, someone that has great virtue and character, go and spend as much time as you can with that people or those group of people, as much as you can. There's a study that found that accountability increases success by 65% and regular check-ins by 95% and 95% success rate. So having that accountability partner you're meeting at the gym and working out with, that's powerful. It's incredibly powerful. Community is so powerful when it comes to achieving your goals and living your best life possible. Now, in addition to the steps I just went through, I want to talk about some other practices you can weave into your routine that actually help you build more discipline.

• 34:10Josh Axe?

  Number one, cold exposure and fasting. This resets your dopamine baseline. Now, listen, as I've talked about before, I don't like for some people who have a level of frailty or thyroid issues or low body temperature to do a lot of cold exposure. But a one-minute cold shower, you're in your warm shower, turn it down to cold for one minute, then back up to warm, that's fine. That's good for pretty much everybody. So getting a little bit of cold exposure, it could be cryotherapy, it could be cold plunge, but by the way, this isn't every day. This is one time a week for a cold plunge or every other day for a one-minute cold shower. It can boost dopamine by 250% up to 500%. So there are some great benefits

• 34:52Josh Axe?

  of doing that. Or taking one day a week and skipping breakfast and spending more time in spiritual growth and connecting to God at that time. Just one day a week is really powerful at helping you experience those breakthroughs and becoming more disciplined. Number two, exercise. Exercise increases dopamine receptor density in the brain. This is great for dealing with stress, gaining mental confidence and mental clarity. Number three, prayer and meditation. It reduces stress. It increases gray matter in your brain, helps you focus on the bigger picture and build your character and your values. So simply blocking off

• 35:32Josh Axe?

  10 minutes in the morning for prayer and meditation again at night before bed. It is so incredibly powerful. Now, there's a few books I want to recommend. I talked about that book on identity earlier. It's by Dale Mast. It's called, And David Perceived He Was King. I also talked about a few more books here. Dopamine Nation by Dr. Ann Lemke. And then Atomic Habits by James Clear. And then the Biblio Diet, a book Jordan and I wrote. And then I also wrote a book called Think This, Not That. That book is all about mindset medicine and how to create great daily habits. Listen, behavior follows belief. Habits don't change because you try harder. They change because you think and then act differently. And so here are some action steps.

• 36:17Josh Axe?

  Remember the identity cue. What is, what are those things that sort of cue you in order to do the habit? Then make bad habits harder, right? Create friction and remove friction and make it easier to perform the good habits. And then replace, don't erase, right? You want to take whatever the bad habit is and replace the ice cream with the protein shake, right? So you want to find that good replacement or rather than wine, go for a walk. Number four, anchor habits to purpose. Make them meaningful. Maybe create a vision board. Do things to really align and understand what your purpose is. And then tie your actions to that purpose. Number five is also tie your actions to identity. Have those identity statements.

• 36:59Josh Axe?

  Make sure that your self-talk is in alignment with God's word. Life and death is in the power of the tongue and root your habits in faith. Listen, you're not stuck. Your brain can change. Your habits can change. Your life can change and, and you can actually be a completely different person one year from now than you are today. That's one of the things that I've noticed. When I've made these big shifts in my life with my habits, I remember looking back one year or three years later saying, wow, God has done an incredible work in my life and I am so proud of the person I've become, how I did the hard thing and how I changed. That can be you. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Ak Show. Remember, each week we explore how to grow in mind, body, and spirit,

• 37:44Josh Axe?

  and step into the life God designed you to live. If this encouraged you, share it with someone who needs hope and direction. Also, don't forget to subscribe. It's the number one thing you can do to support the show, and I'll see you on the next episode. God bless.