Activate Your Life: Crowding In Good Habits to Crowd Out the Old

Jamie Arreola, M.Ed, NBC-HWC

Owner at DBA Jamie Activates Coaching. (Education, Career, Life, Health, Relationship, Functional Nutrition, Brain Health). “Tools, strategies, and accountability to get you moving towards your dreams.”

September 15, 2025

As a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, I’ve seen firsthand the powerful truth: we don’t break bad habits by sheer willpower—we outgrow them by activating better ones. Habit change. Change habits by crowding out bad habits with good ones.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, reminds us that “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” The way forward isn’t about force or deprivation—it’s about creating systems of support that make the good habits easier and the less helpful habits unnecessary.

Letting Go to Let In

Think of your life as a garden. If weeds are taking over, you don’t just yank them out and hope for the best—you plant flowers, vegetables, and fruit-bearing trees. When the good things take root, they naturally crowd out the weeds.

The same is true for our habits. Instead of focusing only on what to stop, shift your energy to what to start: morning movement, drinking more water, journaling, preparing wholesome meals, connecting with a supportive friend. Each good habit you activate takes up space where an old one used to thrive.

The Power of “Yet”

One of the most powerful words in habit change is YET. I believe in the power of this word so much that I kept this word, YET, in bold, taped to my classroom wall, when I taught middle school. Feel what happens by adding the word YET to the end of a statement. I can't do X, versus I can't do X yet.

• “I can’t stick to this routine… yet.”

• “I haven’t quit sugar… yet.”

• “I don’t feel confident leading meetings… yet.”

“Yet” keeps the door open. It shifts the story from final failure to unfolding progress. It reminds us that we are in process, and growth is still possible.

Activate Your Life

My favorite word is ACTIVATE —because change doesn’t happen by thinking about it, reading about it, or wishing for it. Change happens when you activate your values through daily action.

Start small. Choose one habit to activate this week—something that feels doable, joyful, and aligned with who you want to become. Then build from there.

As Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, notes: “Once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom—and the responsibility—to remake them.”

That freedom is yours. Today.

So the question is: What will you activate? 

I look forward to hearing your responses to this question!