Mantra with Jemma Sbeg - I Build Habits that Empower My Progress

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

This week's mantra is "I Build Habits that Empower My Progress." We often dream of big leaps forward, but true transformation happens in the consistent, small actions we take every single day. Our habits, whether conscious or unconscious, are the building blocks of our lives, shaping our routines, driving our goals, and ultimately determining our trajectory. In this episode of Mantra, we'll dive into the power of intentional habit-building, exploring how to identify the behaviors that serve your highest self, cultivate consistency with compassion, and create systems that support your long-term vision. Building empowering habits isn't about perfection; it's about creating a powerful framework for sustainable growth and watching your progress unfold, one small, intentional step at a time. Mantra is an OpenMind Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to OpenMind+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Mantra! Instagram: @mantraopenmind | @OpenMindStudios TikTok: @OpenMind Facebook: @0penmindstudios X: @OpenMindStudios YouTube: @OpenMind_Studios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Open Mind. Welcome to a brand new week. Here is your mantra. I build habits that empower my progress. I'm Jemisbeg and every Monday I give you a simple but powerful phrase to consider and bring into your life a philosophy to guide you. in the week ahead and hopefully even beyond. In each episode, we unpack what our mantra really means, how it has shown up in my life and how you can bring it into yours, with journal prompts and a weekly challenge to help you take this mantra and put it into action. At Open Mind,

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about how they spend their days, but their values, how motivated they are, their passions, their dreams, their greater vision for their life. And it is also, in many ways, a predictor of our success. Here's the truth. Your habits are your life in motion. They are the small, daily decisions that become the architecture of your reality. You don't just become a right writer because you write a book and you become a writer because you write a little bit every day. You don't just become fit from one workout. You become fit and healthy because movement becomes part of how you live. You don't build confidence overnight. You're not just a confident person from birth. You build it by repeatedly doing hard things, showing up for yourself, proving that

you can trust your own follow through. We often think that change has to be this big, dramatic thing, because we've been conditioned to associate transformation with very grand cinematic moments, the kind of before and after glowups, the overnight successes, like the sudden breakthroughs, that's all we see. But in psychology, this is actually known as action bias, which is our tendency to favor dramatic gestures over subtle shifts because they feel more productive or impressive. The problem is these big changes that we so love to see, and love to celebrate, they often rely on bursts of motivation, which are fleeting.

Real lasting change, though, that maybe isn't as recognizable, but is just as powerful, usually doesn't come from one major, massive decision. It comes from dozens of tiny repeated ones. Psychologist BJ Fogg refers to these as tiny habits. This is the idea that the best way to build long-lasting behavior is really just to start small and then let momentum take over. Another term for them that you may have heard recently is micro habits. Again, micro habits are small, simple actions that are so easy and manageable, they require little to no motivation to complete. They are the tiniest building blocks of behavior change, doing one minute of deep breathing, writing just two sentences a day, standing up and stretching for 30 seconds.

On their own seems very insignificant, but the real power of these things lies in consistency and momentum. Microhabits, they're so powerful, psychologically, emotionally, even physically, because they bypass, I think, the biggest barrier to change, which is internal resistance. When something feels too big or time-consuming, we procrastinate. But micro-habits are too small to say no to. And once we've started, we often do more than we originally intended to. They also help reinforce identity.

If you stretch every day, even for one minute, you start to see yourself as someone who takes care of their body. if you write a page each week for a book or just for your own pleasure, you start to see yourself as someone who is a writer. Over time, you know, these tiny actions can pound and they create really meaningful progress also without the burnout, without the pressure of huge lifestyle overhauls. They act as like these tiny votes of confidence in yourself. That's also incredibly important to their success. I think what's so hard about changing our life is that we often don't trust ourselves to do it when we first begin. There's a part of us that just has a lot of doubts. We don't have

those experiences or data points of really having pushed ourselves hard in the past to know what we're capable of. So when setbacks occur, when something rocks the boat, we just abandon ship. Self-trust, you know, in my mind, it's just foundational to habit formation and no one really talks about it. It might sound controversial, but I actually think it's more important than consistency or perfection because it is where those things come from. It's the belief that you'll do what you say you will, not just once but over time. And if you don't have that belief in your own promises to yourself and your ability to follow through with them, what's the point of even starting? You have no commitment, not just to anyone outside of you, but to the person who's

going to benefit the most from this change. when we trust ourselves though we are more likely to set realistic goals we are more likely to show up consistently we are also more likely to i think recover from setbacks with compassion rather than criticism it creates a feedback loop right you know the more we follow through even in small ways the more we reinforce our identity as someone who is dependable who is disciplined who is capable of growth that's why again you need to start small I also think this mindset shift of seeing small micro habits as a vote of confidence for the future version of ourselves really shifts us from being driven by impulse or routine, which some parts

of that are very important. But instead of that we become, and we are driven by intention, instead of seeing habits as chores or a checklist, we do begin to see them as something that is a meaningful choice that shapes who we are becoming, that are linked to our identity. And it also creates purpose in actions that can often be quite mundane. You know, the rough thing about habits is they are so small, it's so easy to abandon them because they don't feel significant. But when we see them as this intentional thing that we are doing to carve out our reality and to reinforce our identity, they feel less like something we can give up on.

I think it also helps us break the all or nothing trap because no single habit makes or breaks us. They don't feel like the stakes are that high, but each one does contribute to the direction we're heading in. It helps us kind of start asking ourselves, not do I feel like doing this today, but what kind of person am I voting for right now? What kind of person do I want to become and what's going to be required intentionally to do that? With that in mind, what habits do we choose to focus on to begin with, specifically which habits are empowering, and which ones are somewhat unnecessary, which ones do we maybe need to skip? This may come as a shock considering what a fan of habits we seem to be, but not all

habits are created equal. Some are rooted in, I would say genuine self-alignment whilst others are driven by pressure, they're driven by comparison, they're driven by guilt, something that I think is a lot more common these days. And surprise, surprise, these things are not sustainable. When we choose habits just because we feel like we should, like waking up at 5am, because someone else swears it changes your life, or journaling daily, just because it's trendy, not because we're actually getting anything out of it, these might eventually feel quite hollow, feel quite burdensome. That's because they don't connect to our deeper values or goals. They connect to someone else's goals. And who cares about their goals? They're not personally relevant to us. We're not

going to invest in them. To choose habits that truly empower our progress, we need to start with self-inquiry. What kind of life am I trying to create? What elements of that life are most important to me? What really matters to me right now? What kind of person do I want to become? not in someone else's eyes, but my own? What is a life I don't want to give up on? From there, we kind of reverse engineer the habits that will support that vision, but you have to have that vision very clear in your mind before you can begin. For example, if you really value creativity, the habit of writing for five minutes a day or sketching for five minutes a day, or doing a creative activity once or twice a week instead of watching TV, that's going to feel

deeply nourishing. If you're focused on emotional well-being, a nightly check-in or gentle movement practice actually might do more for you than a rigid gym routine ever could. Another key consideration here is sustainability. Empowering habits are the ones you can actually live with, not just achieve for a week and then abandon. And then also feel like a failure. they need to fit into our lifestyle and work with, not against, our energy, our needs, our abilities, and our context. A habit is not empowering if it requires you to constantly override your body, shame yourself into action, or if it requires you to sacrifice your peace and make life intrinsically less joyful or just more stressful. Empowering habits, they're flexible, they're responsive, they are not

rigid rules, they are supportive rhythms that you can kind of float into. Finally, the best habits are the ones that don't just get you somewhere, they actually let you enjoy the journey. And that's kind of what we were speaking about before. But it's something we kind of forget. yet. And yet it's so crucial to this process, a habit that moves you forward whilst also helping you feel more like yourself each day is a great habit. A habit that lets you get more from your life is a great habit. A habit that makes you happy, brings you peace, brings you simplicity, makes you feel proud. That is not just progress. Again, that is alignment. That is empowering. I hope this really helps us realize that building habits, it's not just about

willpower. It's not just about what everyone else is saying is important for you to do. You need to be clear on what you want and why. And the healthiest way to get you there before starting, the smallest way to start moving, otherwise you will just face more barriers than you need to. When we understand what we're truly working towards, it becomes a lot easier to notice which really teeny tiny actions are aligned and which ones aren't. okay we are going to take a short break but when we come back i want to share how this has shown up in my own life so please stick around we'll be right back after this short break this episode is brought to you by defender with its six hundred and twenty six horsepower twin

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See the roses only in theaters Friday. Get tickets now. Welcome back. Now that we've looked at the meaning behind today's mantra, I build habits that empower my progress. It's time to get personal and share some of my own insights and reflections about this phrase. All right, I'm a habit addict. I'm just going to say that.

I love a habit. I stack them. I pair them. I change them up. I collect them because even if a habit doesn't always stick forever, I know that doing small things will always get me somewhere faster than inconsistent big efforts. And it makes it easier to feel like something is possible versus when you're just like staring down a big goal thinking, how the heck am I going to achieve this? I always think about it like this. If you put someone, anyone in front of a 14,000 foot mountain and said, okay, you need a client.

that. The majority of people are going to be like, uh, absolutely not. I don't think I can do that. I don't want to do that. This is impossible for me. It's going to take ages. I don't see this as being worthwhile. And they're not going to do it. But if you say, all I need you to do is walk 500 meters. Then you get a break. Hey, do you want to walk 500 more meters? Here's a break. 500 more. 500 more. Well, pretty soon you're at the summit. I know it's a silly analogy, but it's the same way with life. Microhabits are the 100 meter, 400 meter increments that we need to climb the 14,000 foot mountain. Some of the habits that I'm focusing on at the moment have to do with work things. That's a big area for me at the moment, taking my calls, taking my meetings at the same time every

week. So I am not overwhelmed by managing my diary. Helpful, sustainable, important. But the biggest habits I've been focused on are really building towards quite a big goal that I have for the next year, which is running a half marathon. Listen to me right now, when I tell you, I never in my wildest dreams thought I was going to be someone who ran. But in, I think like last November, yeah, November 2024, I was on this walk in Centennial Park, which if you are from Sydney, you know is the most beautiful park in the world. I'm not accepting arguments on that at this moment. It's so beautiful. And I was going to this walk with my boyfriend and I ran into my friend, Sarah, and she was running. And she was like, do you want to just join me for a little bit?

And I was like, yeah, okay, I've got nothing to lose. I can run for like a kilometer. And so I joined her. And it was so refreshing. And I don't know what it was because I've tried so many times in the past to run. And I think I've always like gotten to like three, five K mark and just been like, no, I don't want to do this anymore. But I was trying so, so hard to force myself into being a runner previously that I would just ultimately give up. This was like the first time that I'd gone on around and actually enjoyed it. And I remember saying that to her being like, wow, this was actually really fun. Let's do this again. And I just kept going back and doing really small, slow runs and just stopping when I didn't want to do it anymore, which I know some people would

say is bad, but for me, I knew that the long game required me to keep enjoying this. If I stopped enjoying this, that we weren't getting anywhere. So I just kept doing it in small, meaningful ways with friends. I then made a small micro goal to just run twice a week. And it didn't even matter the distance as long as I was putting my running shoes on and running twice a week. That was important. And now I'm like at the stage where running is like part of my identity a little bit. I have a run club. I have a running vest. I carve out time in my days and in my weeks to run. And I think I'm only like three Ks away from my half marathon goal, which is insanity when you think of where I started. All of that because of habits. Something so amazing about how consistent this has become is how proud I feel of myself. And also how much joy I've really gotten out of it when I haven't been relying on these small bursts of energy and motivation to get me through. Because I'm forcing myself to go slow and steady, I'm actually really enjoying this process.

And that is really the crucial thing for building habits that empower you. You are actually allowed to enjoy the small things that bring you to the hard thing. Not all pursuits of a goal need to be hard and miserable and disciplined. and leave you feeling exhausted. Suffering for your goal doesn't make the goal come any quicker and doesn't make it any more worthwhile. You can do it in the same way, perhaps with even more consistency by going slower. Particularly, it's made me realize how habits shape our identity and how it really signals to us, like, this is who I am now. And once a habit is based in who we are, it becomes so much harder to not perform or to disagree with. If you've read James

clear's very famous book atomic habits you will know this concept it is identity based habit formation basically the idea is that the most long lasting behavior change happens when we focus not on goals but when we focus on who we want to be the goal isn't just to meditate every day it's to become a person who is grounded and to become a person who is mindful the goal isn't just to save money it's to become someone who is financially intentional and financially independent this mindset really flips the script. You're not building habits to earn a better version of yourself, you're building them to embody that version now. And every time you do it, you are already the person who is that ultimate definition of yourself. You are already

acting as that version of you. You aren't waiting until some big grand thing comes true to be there. It's happening daily. It also, I believe, re-centers our need for external validation. Let me explain. Here's the hard truth. Most meaningful progress is invisible. No one claps for you when you choose to get up early and move your body, or when you decide to not text the person who isn't good for you, or when you go back to therapy and unpack something painful, these are very quiet wins, their internal victories, and they often go unnoticed by the outside world, which is why they require a different kind of fuel. When we are measuring progress through external praise, we become performative in our self-growth.

We only show up when someone's watching. We only feel successful if we can post about it. But this shift, showing up consistently, finding joy in our habits, it reflects something deeper. It's a move from, I think, performance to presence. You're not doing it for the applause. You're doing it because it feels good

to be the kind of person who shows up. It forces us to ask, can I validate my own effort even when no one else sees it? Can I trust that the quiet change matters even if it's not dramatic or celebrated? Is this worth something to me even if it's not visible? That kind of self-recognition is very radical in a world addicted to visibility. Everybody and everything needs to be seen these days. But if you do things out of the spotlight or out of other people's sites, I just feel like your goals feel a lot more worthwhile and personally satisfying. It really teaches you to root your worth

not in what is seen, but what is true to you. And when that shift happens, your reward is a feeling of self-respect, which is actually so much more rewarding than approval from others. Once you try that, there's no going back. I also think it shows like praise was never the point. The point is and will always be becoming the kind of person you are proud of in private. That is why we build habits. why you should do anything. And if you're reflecting on the habits that you are putting into place or you're reflecting on your goals and you don't feel like you would still want to do this if no one else was looking, is it that important? Is it that empowering? Okay, let's take everything we've uncovered because there's been a lot of it and turn it into something you can actually do this week.

When we come back, I'm going to share some of our journal prompts, of course, and also our weekly challenge. Stay chipped. Bank more oncores when you switch to a Scotia Bank banking package. Learn more at scotia bank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotia Bank, you're richer than you think. As a B-Mall Eclipse Visa Infinite Cardholder, you don't just earn points. You earn five times the points. On the must-haves, like groceries and gas.

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Terms and conditions apply. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shunker. I host a podcast called A Slight Change of Plans that combines behavioral science and storytelling to help us navigate the business. big changes in our lives. I get so choked up because I feel like your show and the conversations are what the world needs, encouraging, empowering counter programming that acts like a lighthouse when the world feels dark. Listen to a slight change of plans wherever you get your

podcasts. Welcome back. This week's mantra is I build habits and empower my progress. And there are so many incredible quotes around this phrase, but perhaps the most impactful comes yet again from Mr. James Clear and his book Atomic Habits. Of course, we were going to talk about it quite a bit in this episode. This quote in particular is the one I find most powerful from his work. The deep thought of the day from James Clear is, you do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. I'm just going to let that linger for a second. That deep thought is kind of a game changer when you really think about it.

Goals are very exciting and obviously very necessary. Their future focus, obviously have a big payoff associated with them. They give us something to aim towards like write a book, get in shape, save money. Very important. Goals don't change us. They are simply destinations on the map, but they don't tell you how to get there. That's where systems come in, the daily routines, the habits, the structure we create that guides our behavior, that is where we need to be investing our time rather than just

visualizing and fantasizing the end result. Your system is what you do consistently, not what you hope for. And yes, it is important to hope and it is important to have dreams. It cannot be the sole basis for your motivation or your efforts towards something. Think about it this way. Two people can have the same goal. Say, for example, running a marathon. I feel like running is a big theme in this episode and it's an easy one to kind of think of.

Running a marathon. One person has a really solid training routine. They have a rest schedule. They have a nutrition plan. They know when to listen to their body. the other person is just winging it when they feel like it. Only one person in this situation is like it in across the finish line. They both had the same goal.

It wasn't like one of their goals was stronger. It's not like one of them wanted it more. It's because their system supported their success. And it's because the person with the system had this safety net for when they wanted to give up and when it was hard and when life was really just a whole lot. just doing the thing required less energy because they didn't have to think about it as much as the person who came into it without habits, without structure, without a plan. They took all the

cognitive effort out of trying and out of pursuing their goal. Again, you do not rise to the level of your goals. Anyone can have goals. You fall to the level of your systems. That is where our focus needs to be. Okay, let's shift our attention to our journal practice. Each week, you guys know, I also give you a few prompts just to help you reflect on this mantra and kind of how it's showing up in your own life right now. I find that this practice is incredibly important. Even if you don't want to put pen to paper, even if you don't have your journal right now,

you could be driving, you could be at work, you could be doing something with your hands and you don't have the opportunity to write down what you're thinking, just think about it. Maybe even pause the episode, just come up with your answers in your head. But without further ado, here are our three prompts for the week. First, what does meaningful progress look like in your life right now? And are your habits truly supporting it? Secondly, what habits have you picked up because they looked good on someone else? But you've later realized don't actually align with your needs or values.

What would be a better habit to replace those habits? And finally, what is one small, miniature, atomic, realistic change you could make this week to move closer to the person you want to become? Now that we've made space to reflect, let's give our mind a moment to rest. In just a second, you'll hear our custom music track. I encourage you to take this opportunity to just process this week's reflections, maybe even reflect on our journal prompts to whatever feels right for you. No pressure, no expectations.

No one's watching. It's just you on your mind. And if this is something you don't always connect with, that's totally okay. Just skip ahead around 30 seconds and we'll be back. As you settle in, keep our mantra in mind. I build habits that empower my progress. As the music plays, let this mantra shape your thoughts and take the time to connect with whatever it's bringing up for you.

Beautiful. All right, it is time for our weekly challenge, inspired by our mantra. The purpose of this challenge is just to help you take whatever we're discussing and turn it into real actionable steps in your life. I'd love to hear how it's going. You can reach out to me at mantra, open mind. Each month, I'll be responding to your questions and comments in our special bonus episodes. These are available exclusively on Open Mind Plus. But this week, our challenge, I want you to do a habit audit.

Choose one day this week to just attract everything you do, from how you start your mornings to how you approach the midday slump to what you do to wind down at night. At the end of the day, circle any habits that you perform that you feel genuinely support your growth, cross out ones that actually feel performative, reactive, depleting, maybe even a little bit boring that you kind of need to spice up. The next day, just keep these things in mind, be a little bit more intentional, see if you can replace these habits with something that works better for you, or maybe just relax for a little bit and wait until you feel a call to build an empowering habit to actually build that habit.

All right. That is all for this week's episode. I built habits that empower my progress. Thank you so much for joining me. As you move through this week, please just remember, if you remember anything, the progress, it's not built on breakthroughs. It's built in very quiet, repeated choices that aren't flashy, that aren't visible, but are incredibly powerful. The habits we commit to each day, they aren't just routines. They are also a reflection of your identity, your beliefs, your self-trust, what you think you're capable of becoming. So this week and beyond, make the decisions that feel like an active investment in your

future and show up for yourself one small decision, one small habit at a time. Thank you for joining Mantra, an exclusive Open Mind original powered by Pave Studios. At Open Mind, we value your support. So share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review and follow Mantra to help others discover the show. For ad-free listening and early access to mantra with me, Gemma Spegg, we invite you to subscribe to Open Mind Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'll share another insightful and introspective mantra with you next Monday.

Until then, keep showing up for yourself and your journey. I'm Gemma Speg. See you next week. Mantra is hosted by me, Gemma Speg. It is an Open Mind original powered by Pay Studios. This episode was brought to life by The Incredible Mantra team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Stacey Warrinker, Sarah Kemp, and Paul Lieberskin.

Thank you for listening. If you missed my live show, do not worry. You can still watch it on-demand until November 30th. Head to pave.org to catch the real talk, big feelings and the unfiltered VIP afterparty before it's gone. Thank you.