The Science of Why Habits Matter More Than Motivation
Setting New Year’s resolutions for our health and wellbeing can feel overwhelming, especially while navigating a cancer diagnosis. Research in integrative oncology and habit science has shown us some key principles that may make health goals easier to stick to over time. Whether you’re aiming to stay active during treatment, eat well, quit smoking, manage side effects, or you just want to support someone you care about, one thing is clear: sustaining behaviour changes isn’t just about knowing what to do, it’s about how you do it.
In this blog, we’ll explore what the science says about forming habits, and what techniques may make it easier for you to stick with your New Year’s resolutions.
What is habit formation?
The word habit gets a bad reputation. In everyday conversations, it’s often given a negative connotation. For example, in the English language we have terms like “kicking the habit”, “force of habit”, or “old habits die hard!” The reality is, the word habit is neutral — it doesn’t hold any moral value. The Oxford Advanced American Dictionary defines it as:
a thing that you do often and almost without thinking, especially something that is hard to stop doing
This reads quite neutral. Part of your morning routine could be taking your dog out for a walk or brushing your teeth — things you probably don’t need to give much thought to. However, the examples the dictionary gives below imply a “bad” habit:
- you need to change your eating habits
- he has the irritating habit of biting his nails
- it’s all right to borrow money occasionally, but don’t let it become a habit
The irony is that the qualities that make habits frustrating when they feel “bad” are the same qualities that make them incredibly powerful when they support our health. Habits reduce the mental effort required to act; they free up cognitive space by allowing behaviours to run on autopilot (1). This efficiency can be a huge asset when our energy, motivation or bandwidth is low, which is often the case during cancer treatment or recovery.
How long does it take for a habit to form?
I wish I could give you a straightforward answer, but the truth is, the time and effort it takes to form a habit varies widely. One meta-analysis (2) on habit formation looked at 20 studies (N=2601 participants) and found that the median time to form a habit was 59-66 days, but the individual range varied greatly, between 4 to 335 days — close to a year! Not surprisingly, simple behaviours, like drinking a glass of water in the morning, tend to stick faster than more complex ones that require more planning or motivation, like training for a half-marathon. This same study also found that morning practices and self-selected habits (ones that participants chose themselves) were more likely to become automatic.
So, if you’ve chosen a complex New Year’s resolution like a new strength training program, running a half-marathon or cooking more homemade meals, don’t be discouraged if you’re not in a routine just yet. It doesn’t mean you’re failing, it just means you’re human!
What are behaviour change techniques (BCTs)?
Behaviour change techniques, or BCTs for short, are practical strategies intended to make behaviour change easier and more sustainable. Chances are, you’ve used some of them in your daily life already.
Common examples of BCTs include:
- Goal setting
- Using a calendar, or
- Setting reminders
There are so many different BCTs; habit science is largely geared towards understanding which techniques work best for who, and in what context. For example, can BCTs like ‘goal setting’, ‘demonstrating a behaviour’ and ‘behaviour rehearsal’ help people with cancer engage in exercise, or is this only a tool that shows promise for people with autism (3)?
This matters because a strategy that works wonderfully for one person, may feel burdensome or unrealistic for another.
How can we apply habit science in oncology?
Researchers have begun applying habit science in cancer care, particularly focusing on lifestyle behaviours like physical activity. So far, only a handful of studies have looked at physical activity and dietary interventions. Although this is still a growing area of research, some consistent themes have emerged.
A 2023 systematic review (4) on implementing lifestyle interventions for cancer-related fatigue (CRF) found that 17 BCTs were effective in reducing CRF. The most frequent ones included:
- Goal setting (making a clear, achievable goal)
- Instruction and demonstration of the behaviour (understanding and seeing how to do the behaviour)
- Practice and rehearsal (repeating a behaviour — to improve and create a habit)
- Credible source (guidance from a qualified professional or a trusted source)
One drawback is that most studies only focused on physical activity, rather than dietary behaviours or sleep hygiene to reduce fatigue.
Another meta-analysis from June 2025 (5) looked at BCTs for both physical activity and dietary interventions for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. They analyzed fourteen randomized-controlled trials, all on physical activity, with two including dietary outcomes. Researchers found that programs were more effective when they combined multiple behaviour change strategies, rather than relying on one technique alone. Again, the top techniques included:
- Action planning – this one scored highest
- Goal setting
- Instruction and demonstration on how to perform a behaviour
- Information about health consequences, social and emotional consequences
- Practice and rehearsal
- Credible source
This suggests that simply knowing that exercise and nutrition matters isn’t enough. What helps is setting a specific goal, creating a plan around how you’re going to achieve it, incorporating support and practicing the behaviour.
Interestingly, some of the lowest scoring BCTs for AYAs with cancer included social comparison, incentives, body changes, and comparative imagining of future outcomes. This may suggest that comparing yourself to others, your future to others, or using incentives like body change, may not be as helpful for achieving health goals.
What techniques seem to work across outcomes?
A broader 2025 meta-review (6) looking at BCTs for promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition and healthy body mass in women with breast cancer and breast cancer survivors found that 24 BCTs impacted one or more behaviours. 14 of these 24 BCTs demonstrated effectiveness for only one behaviour (by now, I think you can guess which one): physical activity. Across all behaviours (including healthy nutrition and healthy body mass) the following six techniques were considered effective:
- Goal setting
- Problem solving
- Action planning
- Reviewing goals
- Social rewards, and
- Positive self-talk
Again, in these top BCTs, we don’t see any of the strategies that scored lowest for the AYAs either—nothing about comparing ourselves to others, using incentives, or using negative reinforcements.
Maintaining these habits over time
At this point, you’ve set a New Year’s resolution, you’ve started turning it into a habit, now what? A 2019 meta-analysis (7) on maintaining physical activity in cancer survivors found that programs were more successful when they continued to offer some form of support, beyond the initial intervention period. They noted that ineffective interventions often didn’t include any supervision or BCTs such as action planning, graded tasks, or social support.
Applied to real-life, this may mean that follow-ups with healthcare providers, check-ins with accountability partners, and being open to changing your goals over time may help you carry them through to 2027 and beyond.
Resources for behaviour change:
- Ideas Into Action Worksheet by Nova Scotia Health
- Action Planning & Problem Solving Worksheet by WRHA Professionals
- Brief Action Planning Online Course by the Centre for Collaboration, Motivation and Innovation
- My Change Plan for smoking cessation, created by CAMH
- Apps for:
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- Habit tracking and building: “Way of Life” or “Strides”
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- Nutrition and lifestyle: Ate
Follow the Patterson Institute for Integrative Oncology Research on socials for more:
Erica is a licensed naturopathic doctor at The Centre for Health Innovation, where she works with people affected by cancer, digestive concerns and mental health conditions such as anxiety, eating disorders and ADHD. Erica works part-time in clinic and part-time as a research assistant at The Patterson Institute for Integrative Oncology Research. She obtained her Doctor of Naturopathy degree from The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), with a focus shift at the Integrative Cancer Centre-CCNM. Erica also serves on the INCAM Research Network Board of Directors and is a member of the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians and the Psychiatric Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
References
- Haith AM, Krakauer JW. The multiple effects of practice: skill, habit and reduced cognitive load.Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 2018/04/01/ 2018;20:196-201. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.015
- Singh B, Murphy A, Maher C, Smith AE. Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants.Healthcare (Basel). Dec 9 2024; 12(23)doi:10.3390/healthcare12232488
- Parsons K, Payne S, Bhaska L, Wallace J, Holt N. A systematic review of behaviour change techniques employed in interventions aimed to change physical activity behaviour in autistic individuals.Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2025/07/01/ 2025;79:102867. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102867
- De Vries-Ten Have J, Winkels RM, Kampman E, Winkens LHH. Behaviour change techniques used in lifestyle interventions that aim to reduce cancer-related fatigue in cancer survivors: a systematic review.International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2023;20(1)doi:10.1186/s12966-023-01524-z
- Coffman EM, Choi SM, Smitherman AB, et al. Behavior change techniques in physical activity and dietary interventions among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of Cancer Survivorship. 2025/06/27 2025;doi:10.1007/s11764-025-01836-y
- Boberska M, Wietrzykowska D, Kulis E, et al. Behaviour change techniques used in effective interventions, promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition, and healthy body mass among women with breast cancer and breast cancer survivors: a meta-review.Health Psychol Rev. Dec 1 2025:1-29. doi:10.1080/17437199.2025.2592667
- Grimmett C, Corbett T, Brunet J, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of maintenance of physical activity behaviour change in cancer survivors.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. Apr 27 2019;16(1):37. doi:10.1186/s12966-019-0787-4
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