Develop healthy habits that give you energy

Studies show that nearly half of what we do each day isn’t a conscious decision—it’s a habit. In fact, a 2006 Duke University study found that about 45% of our daily behaviors are habitual—automated actions triggered by cues in our environment. That means we live much of our lives on autopilot, driven not by intention but by pattern.

For a long time, I thought energy was something I had to wait for—something I’d magically feel when I got more sleep, cleared my to-do list, or finally found the perfect work-life balance. But somewhere along the way—in the middle of grief, coaching others through burnout, and trying to heal my own body—I started to see it differently.

Energy isn’t something we wait for. It’s something we generate. And often, we generate it through the tiniest acts of care and consistency.

This wasn’t always intuitive to me. As a recovering perfectionist and overachiever, I used to think habits had to be big to count: an hour at the gym, a full week of meal prep, a morning routine that looked like a wellness influencer’s Instagram reel. But real life is messier than that. Especially when you’re grieving, or managing chronic illness, or simply in a season where everyone else’s needs feel louder than your own.

That’s where the science came in.

James Clear reminds us that “every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” For me, that meant reimagining energy—not as a product of hustle, but as a side effect of alignment. When I moved my body, drank water, paused to breathe, or walked away from my screen for five minutes of sunlight, I wasn’t just checking off a list. I was casting a vote for a more regulated, more present, more alive version of myself.

BJ Fogg talks about the power of tiny habits. In his research at Stanford, he found that we don’t change by doing more—we change by doing easier. You don’t need a 30-minute meditation app. You need one deep breath when the phone rings. You don’t need to overhaul your life. You need to anchor small shifts to things you already do. Brush your teeth? Add a stretch. Turn off your lamp at night? Whisper an affirmation. These micro-movements matter.

Charles Duhigg, in The Power of Habit, emphasizes keystone habits—those rituals that ripple out and shape other behaviors. For me, it was going to bed earlier. That one act impacted how I ate, how I coached, how I parented, and how I prayed. It didn’t just give me energy. It gave me margin.

But perhaps what’s most powerful is this: energy comes not just from doing something healthy, but from doing something on purpose.

In my coaching and in my book on flourishing, I talk a lot about nervous system regulation. About how safety in the body creates spaciousness in the mind. And how that safety doesn’t come from grand resolutions—it comes from rhythms. From having even one thing each day that reminds you: I am allowed to feel well. I am allowed to return to myself.

So yes, healthy habits give us energy. But not because they’re impressive. Because they’re stabilizing. Because they remind us we’re not powerless. Because they restore the self-trust that burnout, trauma, or life may have taken from us.

In the words of Annie Dillard:

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

And when those days include small acts of alignment—stretching, sipping, praying, walking, noticing—we don’t just feel more energy. We remember we are capable of creating it.