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Why don’t we do what we know is good for us?
Working with your brain instead of against it
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Objective
We all know that moving is good, that enough sleep helps and that the phone is better left aside at the table. And yet we don’t do it. That has little to do with a lack of willpower and everything to do with how our brain works. In this keynote Elke Van Hoof explains why the gap between knowing and doing is so stubborn, and how you build lasting change by working with your brain instead of fighting it.
“It’s not about insight, but about training. Most people already know what they should do — and don’t do it.”
Inside the session
You actually know exactly what you should do. And still, in the evening you reach for the screen instead of your running shoes, and for the deep-fried snack instead of the broccoli. That’s not a character flaw. We make tens of thousands of decisions every day, and by far most of them we don’t make consciously. Thinking consciously costs a lot of energy, so our brain runs on autopilot most of the time.
Elke Van Hoof makes this clear with a simple distinction: the primal brain and the human brain. The primal brain is fast, instinctive and geared towards survival; it drives the vast majority of our choices. The human brain is slow, conscious and rational, but it uses a lot of energy and tires quickly. In almost every temptation, that’s why the primal brain wins. Our habits aren’t mistakes, they’re efficient survival strategies.
Next she shows why the gap between knowing and doing persists. Our primal brain is still programmed for scarcity and prefers fat and sugar. The conscious brain runs out of fuel as the day goes on, which is why in the evening we reach for the easiest option. Peer pressure switches off our own judgement, and our perception is distorted because the brain constantly fills in patterns. Stress makes it harder still: chronic stress strengthens precisely that primal brain, making us more impulsive and putting conscious choices further out of reach.
The good news is that you don’t have to defeat the primal brain. That’s impossible and even undesirable. The art is to engage the human brain in time, before the autopilot takes over. Elke shows how: set up your environment so the good choice becomes the easiest one, lower stress as a baseline, work with concrete if-then plans and anchor change in your own deep motives rather than in guilt or outside pressure. Starting small and repetition over perfection do the rest.
You’ll understand why your good intentions keep failing and leave with concrete, doable ways to build new behaviour — by working with your brain instead of against it.
What you’ll take away
Insight into the primal brain and the human brain, and why your primal brain almost always wins.
Why the gap between knowing and doing isn’t a matter of willpower.
The mechanisms that hold back desired behaviour, and the role of stress in them.
How to set up your environment and routines so the good choice becomes the easiest.
How to anchor change in your own motives instead of in guilt.
Dr Elke Van Hoof holds a doctorate in psychological sciences and specialises in stress, leadership and organisational change. With more than 25 years of experience, she supports leaders and organisations in building resilient, future-proof workplaces.
As a lecturer in Disability Management, the author of internationally published books and the driving force behind the podcast ‘Stress als BFF’, she translates state-of-the-art science into concrete strategies with visible effects on well-being, performance and retention.
Elke is CEO of Oh My People, an organisation that makes stress human and durably embeds well-being, leadership and culture within companies.
Stress expert, keynote speaker & author with 25+ years of experience. She turns mental health into strategy, translating brain science into impact.
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