Little Addictions, Big Impact: Transforming Your Habits for a Healthier Life with Catherine Gray

The One You Feed | Personal Growth, Emotional Resilience & Purpose

Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed

Buddhism, Mental Health, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Religion & Spirituality

4.5 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Catherine Gray discusses her new book about “little addictions” and the big impact of transforming your habits for a healthier life. She explores how everyday compulsions like excessive screen time, snacking, or people pleasing are driven by ancient brain wiring and dopamine. Catherine shares practical strategies for managing these habits, emphasizing environmental changes, self-compassion, and shifting reward systems. The conversation highlights the importance of awareness, reframing language, and building mental strength, offering listeners actionable tools to regain control over their “tiny but mighty” compulsions and make more intentional choices. Take our quick 2-minute survey and help us improve your listening experience: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠oneyoufeed.net/survey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Exciting News!!! Coming in March, 2026, my new book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life is now available for pre-orders!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Key Takeaways: Exploration of “little addictions” and their impact on daily life. Discussion on the neuroscience of addiction, particularly the role of dopamine. Examination of the difference between “little addictions” and clinical addictions. Strategies for managing compulsive behaviors and creating healthier habits. The importance of environmental factors in shaping behavior and habits. Insights on the internal conflict between the impulsive limbic system and the self-regulating prefrontal cortex. The concept of “dopamine shifting” to redirect reward systems toward healthier activities. Personal anecdotes illustrating the challenges and successes in overcoming compulsions. The significance of language in framing choices around habits and self-control. Practical tools and apps to help manage technology and behavioral addictions. For full show notes:⁠⁠ click here!⁠⁠ If you enjoyed this conversation with Catherine Gray, check out these other episodes: Understanding Identity and How Our Past Shapes Who We Become with Catherine Gray Rethinking Addiction and Identity with Catherine Gray By purchasing products and/or services from our sponsors, you are helping to support The One You Feed, and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you! This episode is sponsored by: Hello Fresh – Get 10 free meals + a FREE Zwilling Knife (a $144.99 value) on your third box. Offer valid while supplies last. David Protein bars deliver up to 28g of protein for just 150 calories—without sacrificing taste! For a limited time, our listeners can receive this special deal: buy 4 cartons and get the 5th free when you go to www.davidprotein.com/FEED Shopify – The commerce platform that helps you build, grow, and manage your business all in one place. Start your $1/month trial at shopify.com/feed. Pebl – an AI-powered platform that helps companies hire and manage global teams in 185+ countries. Get a free estimate at hipebl.ai Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Our brains really haven't evolved that much since hunter-gatherer times.
0:04.6	And so what's happening is a lot of these things that we find so impossible to put down
0:10.3	are pressing on ancient urges.
0:28.0	Welcome to the one you feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have.
0:37.8	Quotes like, garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think, ring true. And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us.
0:42.3	We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear.
0:45.3	We see what we don't have instead of what we do.
0:48.6	We think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit.
0:50.8	But it's not just about thinking.
0:52.3	Our actions matter.
0:56.8	It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living.
1:03.9	This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf.
1:13.2	Our guest today is one of my favorite guests of all times. She is one of two people to have appeared on the show now five times. Her name's Catherine Gray. She's an English writer.
1:18.8	She approached me years ago because she loved the podcast and talked about it in her first book,
1:24.1	The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, and We've Become Friends in the Years Since,
1:28.9	and her new book is really, really timely. It is called Little Addictions, Freedom from
1:34.7	Our Tiny But Mighty Compulsions. And she really makes the point that we all have these
1:43.1	little addiction.
1:45.0	You know, maybe we wouldn't call them addiction, but we know the feeling of, you know,
1:48.0	we keep clicking next episode, or we keep checking email again,
1:52.0	or we scroll a little bit longer, one more snack.
1:55.0	And we talk about how the part of the brain that wants what it wants now
	...

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