What Is Habit Priming?
Before, I'd get all excited and pumped, completely riding on momentary motivation and hoping willpower would stay the same. My schedules would be perfect on paper. Wake up at 5:30 AM, yoga at 6:00, meditation at 6:30, journaling, breakfast, work—every block perfectly planned.
And then Monday would come.
I'd do it. Maybe even Tuesday. I'd feel invincible.
Wednesday? I'd be tired. Thursday? I'd skip "just this once." By Friday, the whole thing would collapse, and I'd tell myself I'd start again next Monday.
The problem wasn't me. The problem was I was asking my future self to be heroic.
I was stacking every single decision into one morning:
- Wake up early (even though I'd been sleeping in for months)
- Find my workout clothes (buried somewhere in the closet)
- Figure out what workout to do (scrolling YouTube at 6 AM)
- Actually do the workout (with zero momentum)
- Feel good about it (while my brain screamed to go back to bed)
That's not one habit. That's five decisions happening in a brain that's barely awake. This is why building habits in a busy life often feels impossible.
Habit priming spreads those decisions across many days. It removes the pressure. It lets you prepare without performing.
Think of it like this: You wake up one morning and decide to cook marinara pasta. You get excited, you head to the kitchen... and realize you don't have tomatoes, garlic, or spaghetti. You improvise. You get frustrated. You order takeout.
Habit-building is no different. Success depends on preparation—on designing your environment so that when Day 1 comes, you're not starting from scratch. You're just showing up to what's already been set up. Habit priming is about preparing your environment before asking yourself to perform.
What Habit Priming Looked Like for Me (December 15–31)
A warm-up phase before trying to be consistent.
I didn't try to be consistent during priming. I didn't track wins or celebrate streaks. I just warmed myself up—mentally and physically.
Here's what that actually looked like:
Yoga
I cleaned my yoga mat. It had been shoved in a corner for weeks, gathering dust and a bit of shame.
I brought my yoga blocks out of storage. I set everything up in the living room where I'd see it every morning.
I didn't do yoga during priming. I just made it easier to imagine doing yoga.
Some days I'd roll out the mat and sit on it for two minutes. Some days I'd just walk past it and think, Soon.
No pressure. Just presence.
Early Wake + Workout
I knew my yoga classes would start on January 1st at 6:15 AM. So priming wasn't about waking up early yet—it was about preparing my body and brain for it.
Environment prep: I kept my yoga clothes ready the night before. I set my alarm for 5:45 AM a few times, even though I knew I might snooze it. I practiced hearing the alarm. I practiced the choice.
Behavior prep: I worked on regulating my sleep timing. Instead of Netflix or scrolling late at night, I switched to reading. I kept a book next to my bedside table, lamp ready. I started creating a wind-down routine that didn't involve screens.
I wasn't trying to be perfect. I was just removing friction.
What the Data Shows
Look at December 20th. Zero. I did nothing that day.
December 22nd? Just one habit logged.
December 25th? Christmas with family—another zero.
But here's what matters: look at the cumulative line. It kept climbing. This is what habit consistency looks like before it feels consistent.
Because habit priming isn't about perfection. It's about momentum.
By December 31st, my body knew what 5:45 AM felt like. My yoga clothes were laid out. My book was waiting. My mat was ready.
When January 1st came, I didn't need to be heroic. I just needed to show up to what I'd already prepared.
Why Habit Priming Actually Works (The Science I Didn't Know I Was Using)
When I discovered this in 2020, I had no idea there was science behind it. I just knew it worked.
But later, as I started reading more about behavioral science and neuroscience, I learned something fascinating: there's a part of your brain called the reticular activating system (or RAS for short).
The RAS is basically a filter. Every single day, your brain is bombarded with millions of sensory inputs—sounds, sights, thoughts, feelings. If your brain tried to process all of it, you'd go insane.
So the RAS decides what matters and what doesn't, based on what you've told it is important.
Here's how it works in real life:
Let's say you're thinking about getting a new car. Suddenly, you start seeing that exact model everywhere—on the road, in parking lots, in ads. It's like the universe is showing you that car on purpose.
But the universe isn't doing anything. Those cars were always there. Your RAS just wasn't flagging them as important until you decided they mattered.
The same thing happens with habits.
When I cleaned my yoga mat and set it up in the living room, I wasn't just tidying. I was telling my brain: Yoga matters now.
When I set my alarm and practiced hearing it, I wasn't just waking up early. I was priming my RAS to notice opportunities to wake up early—like going to bed earlier, or noticing when I felt most energized in the morning.
Habit priming works because it gives your brain time to adjust its filters. This is why preparing for habits matters more than relying on motivation.
By the time January 1st came, my brain had already been noticing yoga opportunities for two weeks. Waking up early didn't feel like a battle. It felt like something I'd already been doing—because in a way, I had.
Looking Back: What I Realized
I didn't have a lightning bolt moment during priming. There was no single day where everything clicked.
But looking back now, I can see what happened.
Priming gave me something I didn't have before: evidence.
Not evidence that I was disciplined or motivated or ready. Just evidence that I was preparing. That I cared. That this mattered to me.
And here's what I've learned: Your brain needs evidence, not motivation.
Motivation gets you excited on Day 1. Evidence gets you to Day 100.
When you clean your yoga mat, you're giving your brain evidence that you're someone who does yoga.
When you set your alarm and practice hearing it, you're giving your brain evidence that you're someone who wakes up early.
Habit priming is identity work disguised as preparation.
And by the time January 1st arrived, I wasn't starting cold. I was already becoming.
Why I'm Sharing This
The real reason I'm doing this publicly? I want to pay it forward.
God is in the details. The little things. Of course you have to push yourself—but that push becomes a whole lot easier, and honestly more fun, when you design your life with these tiny sprinkles of habit capsules.
I know what it feels like to stand on that bridge, afraid to cross because you've failed so many times before.
So I'm documenting this second experiment. Not to teach. Not to inspire. Just to show what the bridge-crossing looks like in real time.
The messy middle. The false starts. The quiet wins that don't feel like wins until you look back.