The Habit Waterfall - Why Your Evenings Make or Break Your Success
- Sjoerd Joosten
- Apr 28
- 10 min read
1. Introduction:
Let’s cut straight to it:
If your life doesn’t look the way you want it to, it’s because of the decisions you made yesterday … and the day before … and the day before that.
Your mornings are not the real problem.
Your evenings are.
Here’s the pattern almost everyone falls into (and almost no one admits): You finish your day feeling tired. You tell yourself you’ve "earned" a break. You scroll, binge, procrastinate, and push off all the little things that would actually make tomorrow better.
You don’t plan to lose, you just forget to set yourself up to win. And that “forgetting” turns into a habit.
Then morning comes. You feel rushed You feel behind. You chase the day instead of leading it. You swear you'll "do better" but you never do, because you keep starting the game from behind.
And it's not because you're lazy.
It's because you’re relying on willpower in the morning instead of building a system at night.
This blog will show you exactly:
Why your evening habits heavily influence your mornings (and how your whole day plays out)
Why most people stay stuck in destructive patterns without realizing it
How to actually reprogram your habits using real science, neuroplasticity, and proven strategy
If you’re serious about changing, not just complaining...It starts tonight.
2. Understanding the Core Issue
Most people don't fail because they don't want success.
They fail because they don’t understand how the Habit Waterfall works:
Every action you take triggers the next.
One decision flows into the next. Good or bad, it doesn’t care.
It’s like standing at the top of a mountain stream.
One small step sets off a flow that either carries you where you want to go, or drags you somewhere you never wanted to be.
Here’s where most people unknowingly sabotage themselves:
· You “relax” at night by mindlessly scrolling your phone.
· You let one more Netflix episode turn into three.
· You delay bedtime, cut your sleep short, and wake up already exhausted.
· You snooze your alarm, rush your morning, skip the things that matter most.
· You start your day reactive, stressed, and two steps behind.
Then you wonder why you feel "unmotivated."
You think something is wrong with you.
There isn’t.
The truth is:
Your system is working perfectly … for the results you're getting.
If your routine creates chaos, it will deliver chaos. If your routine builds momentum, it will deliver progress.
And if you catch yourself thinking,
"This little change won’t matter..." or
"It’s too hard to break these habits..." etc.
That’s not reality talking.
That’s your current identity and neurological wiring screaming for the old, familiar dopamine hits you trained it to expect.
You didn’t “fail” because you’re weak.
You failed because you trained yourself … day after day … to choose short-term comfort over long-term success.
?And the good news?
You can train yourself to love winning just as much.
3. Breaking it Down: Key Areas of Impact
Why Evening Habits Matter More Than You Think
Let’s go deeper, because this isn’t just about “being lazy” or “not trying hard enough.”There are real, scientific reasons why your nights set up your days:
Cognitive Fatigue:
At night, your mental energy is drained.
Your brain naturally looks for the easiest reward.
If you haven’t decided in advance what you'll do, you will default to whatever gives you the quickest dopamine spike. Scrolling, snacking, snoozing, on life.
Brain Priming:
The last things you do before sleep literally programs your brain.
Your mind processes memories and emotions during the night based on how you closed your day.
Set it up intentionally, and you prime yourself for clarity and energy.
Leave it to chaos, and you wake up feeling behind.
Momentum Matters:
How you start your day shapes how you live your day.
Research shows the first 30–60 minutes after waking have a massive influence on your focus, stress levels, and emotional resilience.
Win the first hour and everything that follows becomes easier.
How Your Old Identity Fights Back (and How to Beat It)
If change feels hard, there’s a reason.You’re not just fighting bad habits, you’re fighting a brain that’s addicted to the old you.
Neurological Wiring:
Every repeated action strengthens connections in your brain (thanks to a process called synaptic plasticity).
If you snooze your alarm every day, you literally build stronger "snoozing" circuits.
Not metaphorically, biologically.
Hormonal Addiction:
Your brain and body get chemically attached to certain emotional states.
Whether it's stress, procrastination, or low-level dopamine hits, your system craves what’s familiar, even if it's slowly wrecking your life.
Comfort ≠ Healthy.
Ego Defense Mechanism:
When you try to change, your subconscious freaks out.
It screams: "This isn’t you! This feels wrong!"
Not because change is bad, but because survival instincts resist anything unfamiliar.
Your current identity is protecting itself, even if it’s broken.
But here’s the truth:
If you can train your brain into dysfunction, you can train it back into excellence.
It’s not magic. It’s neuroplasticity and it’s 100% in your control.
The Real-Life Effects of a Broken Habit Waterfall
If you’ve been feeling stuck, drained, or frustrated with yourself, this is probably what’s happening underneath:
· You constantly feel low on energy.
· You live in a state of chronic, low-grade stress.
· Your confidence quietly erodes.
· You become inconsistent, no matter how hard you "try."
· You self-sabotage just when progress was possible.
· You make excuses. You blame. You play victim — even if you don’t realize it.
This isn’t "bad luck."
It’s a broken system.
And a broken system will never magically create a winning life.
4. How to Apply This in Real Life
You’re not stuck because you’re "broken."
You’re stuck because you trained your brain to stay stuck.
Now it’s time to retrain it to win and it starts tonight, not someday when you “feel ready.”
Here’s exactly how:
Do This - Build a Habit Waterfall That Actually Works
Evening Setup: Where Tomorrow’s Success Is Really Built
No screens after 9PM - no exceptions.
If you’re still staring at your phone, Netflix, or emails late at night, you’re killing your melatonin, frying your nervous system, and telling your brain to stay in survival mode.
Set a hard cut-off. Respect it. You’re either serious or you’re not.
Plan your tomorrow before you sleep.
Write down your action plan for the first 2–3 hours after waking.
No plan = no clarity = easy collapse into chaos.
Phone OUTSIDE the bedroom.
Not beside you. Not under your pillow. Outside.
Make it physically difficult to sabotage yourself. Discipline is easier when the bad choice is out of reach.
Lay out your essentials.
Workout clothes, journal, water bottle, book. Set the scene for success. Remove decision fatigue.
Set a “win tomorrow” alarm at 8:45PM.
When it rings, you’re done with work, screens, distractions.
You’re transitioning into future champion mode.
Morning Execution: Own Your Day Before It Owns You
No phone for the first 30–60 minutes.
Checking your phone first thing is self-sabotage. It hijacks your brain into reaction mode.
Protect your mental startup sequence like your life depends on it, because your goals (and life) do.
Hydrate immediately.
Big glass of water. No thinking. No negotiations. Reset your system fast.
Move your body.
Stretch, walk, workout, whatever, just MOVE.
Physical movement primes mental clarity. Energy isn’t found, it’s created.
Mindset work - every single morning.
Journal. Gratitude. Visualization. Read a few powerful pages.
Set your emotional baseline before the world sets it for you.
First Victory Task.
Do one productive, meaningful thing before the world can touch you.
Momentum wins. Snoozing loses.
Neuroplasticity in Action - How to REALLY Rewire Your Brain
Repetition is king.
Your brain wires itself through repeated behavior, not good intentions.
You need 30–90 days of relentless consistency to rewire your defaults. Not “most days” … every day!
Discomfort means it’s working.
Change will feel wrong. Uncomfortable. Awkward. GOOD.
That’s your old circuits dying and new ones being built.
If it feels too easy, you’re not changing.
Celebrate like it matters, because it does.
Every tiny win needs a mental high-five.
Dopamine reinforces behavior. Smile. Say "YES" out loud when you nail a new habit.
Identity First, Behavior Second.
Every day, affirm your new self:
o “I am someone who honors my evenings.”
o “I build momentum before the world wakes up.”
o “I am a closer, not just a starter.”
Identity leads behavior. Behavior leads results.
Avoid This - Mistakes That Will Keep You Chained to the Old You
Waiting for motivation.
If you’re sitting around waiting to "feel it," you’ve already lost.
Action creates motivation. Move first, feel later.
Trying to overhaul your entire life in one night.
That’s just a perfect recipe for burnout and quitting.
Focus on one or two keystone habits until they’re bulletproof. Then stack.
Underestimating small wins.
Skipping water, skipping your journal, snoozing for “just 5 minutes”?
Each one is a crack in the foundation you’re trying to rebuild. Small hinges swing big doors.
Blaming anything but yourself.
Your circumstances are the scoreboard of your past decisions.
Want a new score? Make new decisions.
Radical responsibility = radical power.
Summary of This Section: You’re not going to “think” your way into a new life.
You’re going to act your way into it, night after night, morning after morning, until the new you is automatic.
You trained your brain to lose. You can, and must, train it to win.
5. Special Considerations
The habits I’ve outlined will work for anyone, but depending on your role, there are nuances that will either accelerate or slow down your results.
Let’s talk about how to optimize this for you:
- For Athletes:
If you’re serious about performance, every second counts. This isn’t just about building good habits, it’s about training your body and mind like a machine.
Sleep is non-negotiable.
If you're not getting quality sleep, you’re sabotaging your progress. You can’t train at your peak if your mind and body are constantly recovering from late nights, bad food choices, and poor routines. If you think “just one more episode” doesn’t matter, it does. Your body isn’t like your phone; it can’t recharge in 30 minutes. So get it together.
Fuel your body before your mind.
Hydration, stretching, and nutrition come first, not second. If you’re prioritizing “work” over wellness, you’re cutting yourself short. Your body is your machine, and if you don’t take care of it, it won’t perform at the level you want. Stop making excuses for skipping the warm-up or cutting corners on nutrition.
No shortcuts, no excuses.
If you can’t put in the work at night to set up your success for the next day, you’re not going to put in the effort during your training sessions either. Treat every single habit like it’s your workout. Discipline in the small things adds up.
For Entrepreneurs:
You’re juggling a million things at once. But let’s get real: If your personal habits are falling apart, your business will too. You’re the CEO of your life. If you want to run a high-performing company, you need to run a high-performing self.
Evening clarity = morning focus.
As an entrepreneur, your brain is constantly on overdrive. Without a clear mental reset before sleep, you're walking into your next day with brain fog. You can't afford that. Schedule time to wind down, plan tomorrow, and clear out the clutter. You want your morning to be about execution, not mental confusion.
Protect your mornings like they’re the most important meeting of your day.
Don’t check emails, texts, or Socials, the second you wake up. Your business needs you at your sharpest, not your most reactive. You need to own the first 60 minutes of your day, or the world will start dictating your agenda. Focus, clarity, and productivity, they’re built from within.
Set clear boundaries.
You need to draw a hard line between your work mode and your rest mode. The grind doesn’t end at 9PM. If your phone is your last thing at night, you’re setting yourself up for burnout. Protect your evenings with intention. The future of your business depends on it.
For Parents:
You’ve got a lot on your plate. But here’s the deal: you can’t pour from an empty cup. If you’re not making your habits a priority, you’re modeling the wrong behaviors for your kids, and eventually, you’ll burn out. Your kids will follow your lead, so lead by example.
Consistency matters more than perfection.
You don’t need a perfect routine ,just a consistent one. Your kids need to see you taking care of yourself, not just them. When you prioritize your health, energy, and mindset, you’re giving them a model to follow. (Kids copy-learn.)
Use your evenings to “download” and reset.
Whether it’s winding down with a book or a simple routine, use your evenings to reset your mind and prepare yourself for the next day. Your family needs you at your best. If you’re exhausted from poor habits and decisions, your patience and presence suffer. Your evenings are the foundation of your next day.
Set the example in your mornings.
Your morning sets the tone for the entire family. The way you wake up influences how everyone else wakes up. Be the anchor for your family’s day. If you start your morning with chaos or indecision, that’s what your kids will see. Teach them the power of structure, discipline, and intention.
For Everyone: The Big Truth
Your habits dictate the life you live.That’s it. If you’re stuck, it’s because of your habits. Not your circumstances, not your environment, and certainly not because of some “bad luck.”You trained yourself to be where you are. Now, it’s time to retrain yourself to be where you want to be.
Whether you’re an athlete, an entrepreneur, or a parent, or all thre, your habits will make or break you.
There’s no magic switch. But if you’re ready to stop waiting for motivation and start creating the life you want, it starts tonight.
6. The Final Takeaway
You don’t need more time to change your habits.
You don’t need more motivation to get started.
You don’t need to wait for tomorrow to begin.
You don’t need to be perfect to start or from the start.
You don’t need to be rested to take action.
You don’t need endless discipline.
You don’t need the body/brain of a high performer to start.
You don’t need to accept “this is how you are.”You don’t need a perfect environment to succeed.
You don’t need to wait for happiness until the goal is achieved.
You need better SYSTEMS.
You need better EVENINGS.
You need to control the waterfall, before it controls you.
You are already building a waterfall every day - either one that pulls you into frustration or one that lifts you into excellence.
Every night, you decide which.
Tonight, will you build the waterfall that serves you- or destroy yourself by default?
The choice is yours.
Decide.
Act.
Win.
Repeat.
Your Biggest Cheerleader, Sjoerd
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