Column – The illusion of the new beginning

The new year is just around the corner, and with it come the New Year's resolutions. We have once again indulged ourselves lavishly over the past few weeks: lavish dinners, desserts we “actually didn't need anymore,” and, to top it all off, a festive New Year's Eve full of drinks and snacks. Because, just like every year, we will soon start again with renewed vigor. *This* year will be different , we tell ourselves. *This* year will be *the* year.

And yet, we know how it ends. Most New Year's resolutions fail faster than the Christmas tree is taken down. Not because we are weak, or lazy, or stupid — but simply because we do not understand how our brain works. We think that willpower and motivation are enough to achieve lasting behavioral change. And that works… for a while. Until the energy runs out, the discipline fades, and we fall back into old patterns, exhausted. The well-known yo-yo effect. And that gnaws at not only your health but also at your self-confidence. Sometimes even so severely that you develop an aversion to everything related to lifestyle.

But this is not a character flaw. This is biology.

Our brain consists roughly of three layers: the reptilian brain (primitive brain), the mammalian brain, and the neocortex. All three have important functions, but if they do not work together, they pull you in all directions.

Take a simple example. You are at a party and someone offers you a piece of cake. You were on a diet, but your primal brain wants only one thing: that piece of cake. Your mammalian brain sprinkles some dopamine and oxytocin on top—a reward, a warm feeling. And then your neocortex comes hobbling along behind it with a rational protest: Hey, weren't we on a diet? But that voice stands no chance against the other two. Before you know it, you make up an excuse: I'll start again tomorrow. And as soon as you give in, it becomes increasingly difficult to break the pattern.

This mechanism was once vital. As hunter-gatherers, we ate whenever we could, because no one knew when the next meal would come. Our primal brain still thinks we are roaming that primeval forest — completely unaware of the abundance in which we now live. And that is precisely why behavioral change is so difficult.

But not impossible.

You just need to know how to get the brain to work together instead of fight. How to outsmart your primal instincts. How to break patterns without exhausting yourself with pure willpower.

In my lifestyle program HowToAgeGracefully, you learn exactly that. The program consists of five modules that reinforce each other and guide you step by step toward sustainable change. No quick fixes, no empty promises — but a systematic approach that works because it aligns with how the brain truly functions.

I hope to have the modules fully ready and available to the public early next year. I am incredibly excited about the content and quality. Would you like a sneak peek? Feel free to take a look at my new website.