TheUPside Podcast: Breaking Bad Habits & Building Your Future Self

Host: Theresa Flood
Guest: Michelle Ozymy
Date: January 13, 2026

Episode Overview

In this insightful episode of TheUPside Podcast, host Theresa Flood sits down with life and business coach Michelle Ozymy to explore the critical role of habits in personal and professional growth. Together, they discuss why bad habits are easy to form but hard to break, strategies for building empowering routines, and the concept of becoming your "future self" through intentional daily actions. The conversation draws on practical advice, relatable stories, and actionable insights—making the episode a valuable resource for anyone aiming to create lasting, positive change.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Habits: Foundation of Outcomes

• Habits are fundamental in shaping our results, goals, and, ultimately, our identities.
• Quote: "If we're going to have different results, we're going to do something different. We've got to create different habits." —Theresa (01:18)

2. Identity and Habit Formation

• Inspired by James Clear’s Atomic Habits: It's not just about what you do, but about becoming the person who does the things that align with your goals.
• Quote: "It's not about doing the thing, it's about becoming the person who does the thing." —Theresa (02:04)
• Focus shifts from achieving outcomes to embodying the identity of your aspirational self.

3. Why Bad Habits Stick & Good Ones don't

• Bad habits are easy because they often lack discipline and can feel more fun or freeing.
• There's a misconception that structure kills creativity or freedom, but in reality, structure creates space for both.
• Quote: "A bad habit can tend to be a little bit more fun... there's not so much discipline involved." —Michelle (02:36)
• Quote: "When you have habits and you have a plan and you stick to a schedule, it actually moves you the direction you want to go and then gives you the freedom that you're looking for." —Michelle (03:12)

4. Environmental Influences on Habits

• Small environmental changes can make or break habit consistency.
• Example: Theresa cut her nails short to make journaling on her computer less cumbersome, illustrating how tiny tweaks can remove barriers.
• Quote: "So many times our environment doesn't support our habits or our goals. And it can be something so simple." —Theresa (04:48)

5. Breaking and Replacing Habits

• Sometimes, what served you in a past season may not serve you now—habits should be adaptable.
• Both hosts share personal stories about replacing or letting go of habits:
  • Michelle gained nighttime productivity after losing her bath routine due to a move (06:45).
  • Theresa shifted her drinking habits to better support her role as a mother and her evening energy (08:02).
  • Associating positive or negative outcomes with habits speeds up the breaking/forming process.
• Quote: "If somebody is looking, saying, 'okay, there's a habit that I need to let go of or replace,' really connecting the dots between what that habit ... is doing and how it makes you feel." —Theresa (10:00)

6. Pleasure, Pain, and Motivation

• Negative emotions are sometimes more motivating than positive ones—people may be quicker to move away from pain than toward pleasure.
• Quote: "We tend to move away from pain versus towards pleasure." —Theresa (10:52)

7. Outcome vs. Action Focus

• Focusing on the action or habit itself, rather than just the result, builds pride, confidence, and resilience.
• Quote: "Being proud of ourself for accomplishing that action step and not being so interested in the outcome." —Michelle (12:00)

8. Consistency Beats Intensity

• All-or-nothing, intense approaches are unsustainable; small, consistent actions trump bursts of effort every time.
• Social media and modern culture feed our need for instant results, but real progress is gradual.
• Quote: "Consistency will always beat intensity." —Theresa (13:48)
• Quote: "It's very easy, though, to lose the motivation or to... we miss a day. And so then there's sometimes this feeling of, well, I broke my streak and I might as well just quit." —Theresa (14:33)

9. Resilience & Bouncing Back

• Breaking a streak isn't a failure; it's an opportunity to get back up and deepen your commitment.
• Quote: "You're becoming a person who bounces back. You're becoming a person who isn't knocked down easily." —Theresa (16:09)

10. Habit Stacking

• From Atomic Habits: Attach a new habit to an existing one ("habit stacking") for easier integration.
• Examples range from building writing routines to incorporating lead-generation calls at work.
• Quote: "The concept on habit stacking is that you just add a habit to whatever you're already doing." —Theresa (17:50)

11. Start Simple, Progress Over Perfection

• Overwhelm comes from trying to overhaul everything at once. Instead, start with one manageable change and add on over time. Small, imperfect action is more important than waiting for the perfect routine.
• Quote: "It can be simple and start simple. Start with one thing, allow it to become a habit, and then add to it." —Theresa (19:45)
• Quote: "Progress over perfection." —Theresa (20:46)

12. Creating Identity Through Habits

• Repeated choices create identity and self-belief—one slip doesn’t define you.
• Let go of habits that make you complacent, not just those that are "bad."
• Quote: "It's the choices that we make over and over that define us and create our identity 100%." —Theresa (21:28)
• Quote: "We limit ourselves because we think it's just about things that are really bad as opposed [to] things that are just mediocre. Things that are keeping us average, things that are keeping us complacent." —Theresa (21:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Nothing changes if nothing changes." —Michelle (01:51)
• "You earn the freedom." —Theresa (03:21)
• "Sometimes a habit that serves us in one season is not a habit that's gonna serve us in the next season." —Theresa (07:41)
• "The hardest part of the habit is the showing up." —Theresa (16:47)
• "When you invest in your growth every single day, when it's a habit, it will yield you great returns." —Theresa (23:46)

Important Timestamps

• 00:34–01:18: Introduction of Michelle and her coaching background
• 02:04: Discussion of identity-based habits (Atomic Habits concept)
• 02:36–03:21: Why bad habits are easier to make than good ones
• 04:31–04:59: Theresa’s journaling habit & environmental tweaks
• 06:45–07:41: Letting go of past habits for new growth
• 08:02–10:00: Changing daily drinking habits and “replacement” rituals
• 10:22: Connecting emotions to habit change
• 12:00–13:48: Value of actions over results, consistency over intensity
• 15:21: The difference between hollow streaks vs. meaningful growth
• 17:49–19:45: Habit stacking and building routines
• 20:46: Importance of progress over perfection
• 21:39–22:26: Breaking free from complacency and settling

Final Thoughts & Resources

• Michelle's Parting Wisdom: Habits are essential for becoming who you want to be. Small, daily choices accumulate and ultimately define us.
• Theresa's Action Steps: Don’t obsess over isolated slip-ups; focus on returning to your desired habits and shed behaviors that keep you stuck—not just the overtly “bad” ones.
• Resource: James Clear’s Atomic Habits is recommended as a practical, go-to guide for anyone seeking to understand and rework their habits (23:23–23:43).
• Upcoming Tool: Subscribers to Theresa’s site will receive a “Habit Audit” worksheet for self-reflection and improvement.

Episode tone: Energetic, supportive, and practical—filled with relatable stories and encouragement to make small, intentional changes for big impact.