Podcast Summary: Fixable – How to Break Bad Habits (w/ Edith Zimmerman) | from How to Be a Better Human

Release Date: January 12, 2026
Podcast: Fixable (Episode from How to Be a Better Human)
Host: Chris Duffy
Guest: Edith Zimmerman – Cartoonist, Writer, and Artist

Episode Overview

This episode features cartoonist and writer Edith Zimmerman, known for her honest, personal, and humorous comics about daily life, sobriety, and creativity. Host Chris Duffy meets Edith at her home to discuss the challenges of forming and breaking habits, the role of honesty and vulnerability in creativity, and what it really means to design a more intentional, meaningful life. Their conversation touches on the intersections of personal growth, sobriety, everyday art, and the hidden work behind self-improvement.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Discovering an Artistic Voice and the Limits of Perfectionism

• Edith traces her artistic development from careful, hyperrealistic pencil drawings in college to her current more spontaneous, impressionistic style. She initially avoided being an artist professionally, doubting it as a "real" career.
• Upon returning to art, Edith chose pen over pencil to break the habit of over-correcting and erasing, allowing her to be "okay with getting it wrong" (02:43).
• Quote:
  "I just started drawing stick figures or, like, ball heads with, like, little necks and, like, circle eyes. And then I just kept doing and kept doing, and, like, slowly it evolved. And now I feel like I have a style, but it's like, none of it was conscious." (03:34, Edith Zimmerman)

2. Honesty, Vulnerability, and the Realities of Sharing Personal Work

• Edith’s comics often originate directly from her daily journal. She discusses the pressures and incentives that come with sharing personal content, especially after monetizing her newsletter.
• The compulsion to share is counterbalanced by her desire to "preserve the integrity of private journaling." Ultimately, a failed attempt at turning her newsletter into a paid product led her to refund her subscribers and pause publication, illustrating the hazards of blending creativity and commerce.
• Quote:
  "I just have to live my life and then write these little charming stories about it. But the money stuff didn’t really work out. ... It was really disappointing. ... I refunded everybody ... and quit, kind of." (07:57, Edith Zimmerman)
• She later returns to public sharing, building in a time buffer to ensure her work remains authentic to her lived experience, not the expectations of an audience.

3. Sobriety, Self-Honesty, and Breaking the Cycle

• Edith candidly reflects on her past as a "medium problematic drinker," recognizing how denial and avoidance kept her from confronting her drinking as a problem for years.
• The turning point: reading Alan Carr's "Stop Drinking Now." She describes understanding addiction as "just habits," and reframing sobriety as a positive choice rather than deprivation.
• Quote:
  "It wasn’t like I was having car accidents and running up debt ... it was just like, very slowly, my life was becoming incredibly repetitive. ... The honesty part for me, I think, just came where I was like, well, yeah, that obviously is bad, but ... This is the only thing that’s fun for me." (13:59, Edith Zimmerman) "If you just break the addiction—addiction meaning, like, your body’s used to it, it’s a habit, it’s a little cycle. If you just, like, unravel it and feel excited about unraveling it ... now you’re giving yourself a better gift." (15:31, Edith Zimmerman)

4. Creativity and Life After Alcohol

• Both host and guest discuss how quitting drinking opens up time and mental space, but also presents a new challenge: what to do with oneself?
• Edith jokes she literally googled, "What do people do besides drink?" and rediscovers enjoyment in simple activities—reading, knitting, mundane family experiences.
• Quote:
  "I just kept doing what everyone else did until it was just, like, the only thing I did. ... Life post-drinking … you have a lot more time. What are you gonna do with it? ... There’s no answers." (17:35, Edith Zimmerman)

5. Making Art of the Everyday and the Limits of Mindfulness

• Edith's comics focus on the ordinary—grocery runs, family life, small observations. Despite this, she admits, "It just stays mundane. Like, I haven’t tapped into any secret of the universe or anything" (24:57).
• She values the hour and a half each morning for private, undistracted journaling and drawing, emphasizing that these "flow" moments are fleeting and rare in her multitasking life as a parent.
• Quote:
  "There was some quote … about, like, the purpose of life is to spend attention at the times when you don’t have to." (25:55, Edith Zimmerman)

6. Honesty About Privilege, Practicalities, and the Myth of the “Perfect” Artistic Routine

• Edith acknowledges that her husband’s financial support makes her daytime artistic practice possible, undercutting myths of the "self-made" full-time artist.
• The pair debunk "one-size-fits-all" productivity and creativity narratives, suggesting that real life is about continual adjustment, not mastering a perfect routine.
• Quote:
  "I think I’m doing work. … I’m glad if it resonates with people. I’m not, like, famous or anything. I’m not wealthy ... so, like, there’s a little absurdity to this, but that’s cool." (28:22, Edith Zimmerman)

7. Tips for Cultivating Creative Practice

• Edith’s practical advice: Find whatever time you can—early mornings or late nights—and prioritize art only if it truly matters to you. Creativity is often a compulsion, not only a matter of discipline or time management.
• Quote:
  "People who are like, 'I just don’t have time to make art,' I’m like, you certainly do. You can find time if it needs to come out of you." (29:26, Edith Zimmerman)
• She also notes that for some, the urge is irresistible; for others, it's not as easy or straightforward.

8. The Role of Luck and Change in Self-Discovery

• Edith is candid that much of her positive change came from luck—circumstance, chance, and being open to trying things she once disliked (like running).
• Quote:
  "A lot of it is just luck. ... sometimes it’s useful to think about things that you know, that you hate doing. ... Maybe someday I’ll get into biking." (41:50, Edith Zimmerman)

9. Running as a Metaphor and Reality For Habit Change

• Three years after quitting drinking, Edith begins running during Covid, describing the journey from detesting it to finding joy and accomplishment.
• She debunks myths (e.g., about mouth-breathing) and describes the transition from struggle to flow in running, paralleling her experience with quitting drinking.
• Quote:
  "I’m a pretty good runner now, and I have to breathe through my mouth all the time." (39:22, Edith Zimmerman)
• Running becomes another canvass for her to work with herself and her real impulses, not adhering to external expectations or “shoulds.”

10. Open-Ended Self Reinvention

• Both interviewer and guest reflect on how change is constant, and one's self-perceptions are likely wrong or incomplete.
• Quote:
  "Everything you think you know about yourself is probably not true. ... It’s just like being open to new experiences and retrying things." (43:14, Edith Zimmerman)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On finding her art style:
  “I just started drawing stick figures or, like, ball heads … and kept doing and kept doing, and, like, slowly it evolved. … None of it was conscious.” (03:34, Edith Zimmerman)
• On the hazards of monetizing vulnerability:
  “I refunded everybody … and quit, kind of. … I kept doing the Journal. … Then I restarted it last fall just because … I wanted to do it.” (07:57, Edith Zimmerman)
• On the reality of breaking bad habits:
  “Alcohol is very obviously ruining my life. … I was like, I’ve gotta solve this incredibly difficult puzzle. … And then one day I was like, no, it’s not that hard.” (13:59, Edith Zimmerman)
• On life after quitting alcohol:
  “I just Googled, like, what do people do besides drink? … There’s no answers. … But actually there, like, was a very boring answer that … ended up being very real, which was like rediscover activities you enjoyed as a child.” (17:35, Edith Zimmerman)
• On making time for art:
  “People who are like, 'I just don’t have time to make art,' I’m like, you certainly do. You can find time if it needs to come out of you.” (29:26, Edith Zimmerman)
• On the continual process of change:
  “Everything you think you know about yourself is probably not true. … It’s just like being open to new experiences and retrying things.” (43:14, Edith Zimmerman)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:43 – Edith discusses evolving her artistic style
• 05:03 – Honesty and vulnerability in personal writing and comics
• 07:07 – Creative compulsion vs. audience expectations; newsletter struggles
• 11:46 – Edith on honesty with herself, especially about drinking
• 13:59 – The turning point in sobriety and reframing addiction
• 17:35 – Post-drinking life: rediscovering mundane, childlike activities
• 23:48 – Creative inspiration in the everyday, and limits to “mindfulness”
• 29:26 – Edith’s practical advice for finding time to make art
• 34:36 – Running and its role in Edith’s new habits and creativity
• 41:50 – The importance of luck, openness, and continual experimentation

Takeaways for Listeners

• The process of breaking bad habits is rarely a single moment of clarity, but instead built of repeated honesty, habit disruption, and the experimentation with alternative joys.
• Creative routines are often less about discipline and more about compulsion, privilege, and the realities of daily life.
• Changing one's life—whether through sobriety, art, running, or daily habits—requires humility, patience, and a willingness to try (and retry) things you never thought you'd enjoy.
• There are no one-size-fits-all blueprints for self-improvement; much comes down to being honest about your own needs, limits, and desires, and accepting the role of luck.
• The only constant is change, and the “self” is always in flux—what you think you know about yourself may not be true for long.

For More

• Edith Zimmerman: Drawing Links Newsletter & Art
• Host Chris Duffy: chrisduffycomedy.com

This episode is a candid, witty, and quietly profound exploration of honesty, habit change, and creative living—perfect for anyone wrestling with their own routines or looking for a more human take on habit formation and personal growth.