The Science of Making & Breaking Habits: How to Change Your Life in 1 Month

The Mel Robbins Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts

Health & Fitness, Relationships, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health

4.8 • 10.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s episode, you’re going to learn an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. Here to offer you a guide to improving your life, no matter what your goals are, is James Clear – the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits, which is one of Mel’s favorite books. James Clear is one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation and behavior change. His work has helped millions of people lose weight, quit smoking and vaping, stop drinking, build businesses, start new chapters, achieve lifelong goals, and become the person they want to be. In this conversation, James reveals a simple truth most people never learn: if you’re struggling to change your habits, the problem isn’t you – it’s your systems. Bad habits don’t repeat because you lack motivation or willpower. They repeat because your system is designed to produce them. James breaks down the proven frameworks behind lasting change and explains how tiny, consistent improvements compound into extraordinary results over time. And even if you have read the book Atomic Habits, which Mel has several times, there are things in the interview today that James says that he has never shared before. He will also cover the things he wished he had written about when he wrote Atomic Habits 7 years ago! In this episode, you’ll learn how to: -Make time for new habits -Overcome a lack of motivation -Design your environment to make success easier -Get back on track quickly when you fall off course -How 1% improvements compound into extraordinary results -The difference between goals and systems - How to break bad habits without relying on willpower -The identity shift that makes change permanent By the end of this episode, you’ll understand why change has felt so hard in the past - and you’ll walk away with a proven system you can use for the rest of your life. For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page. If you liked the episode, check out this one next: How to Get Things Done, Stay Focused and Be More Productive Connect with Mel: Order Pure Genius Protein Get Mel’s newsletter, packed with tools, coaching, and inspiration. Get Mel’s #1 bestselling book, The Let Them Theory Watch the episodes on YouTube Follow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast Instagram Mel's TikTok Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-free Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast.
0:08.6	I just got out of the studio and I am so excited for you to hear today's conversation.
0:15.0	Because ever since starting this podcast three years ago, I have wanted to sit down with the person who just left our Boston
0:22.8	studios. He's a world-renowned researcher and the number one best-selling author whose book
0:29.5	on Habits has sold 25 million copies. And more than any other book, this is the book that has fundamentally changed my
0:40.1	approach to behavior change and habits. What book am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about
0:46.7	none other than atomic habits. James Clear taught me, your friend Mel Robbins, that change
0:53.7	isn't about willpower.
0:55.6	It's about systems.
0:57.8	James is going to tell you today, goals are about the results you want to achieve.
1:02.9	Systems are the processes that lead to those results.
1:07.7	And what you're about to learn is that there are very simple, specific systems
1:14.0	that you need to have in order to break bad habits and create new ones. Today, you're going to
1:20.5	learn exactly what these systems are, how to set them up, why they work. And even if you've read
1:26.9	Atomic Habits,
1:28.2	you need to hear the conversation today.
1:30.0	Because, number one, you've probably forgotten the systems.
1:33.3	And number two, James is about to share things he has never said in any other interview,
1:38.9	including the things he wishes he had put in Atomic Habits.
1:42.7	Because after almost a decade of feedback for millions of
1:45.6	readers around the world, James has so many additional insights and he's going to share them with you
1:50.6	today for the first time here. The frameworks and systems you're going to learn have helped
	...

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