How Small Choices Create Lasting Change (Eric on The Jordan Harbinger Show)How Small Choices Create Lasting Change (Eric on The Jordan Harbinger Show)
The One You Feed
Eric Zimmer talks with Jordan Harbinger about his journey from heroin addiction to long-term recovery, focusing on how tiny, low-resistance habits added up over time. The conversation looks at all-or-nothing thinking, inner resistance and aligning everyday actions with what matters most.
1:14:00•17 Jul 2026
How Tiny Choices Help Eric Zimmer Build a Life Beyond Addiction
Episode Overview
- Lasting recovery usually comes from many small, consistent choices rather than one dramatic rock-bottom moment.
- Setting low-resistance actions (like putting on gym shoes or meditating for three minutes) makes change more sustainable than aiming for huge shifts.
- All-or-nothing thinking often prevents progress; a little bit of something is more helpful than a lot of nothing.
- Motivation is unreliable, so making tasks easier and focusing on behaviour first can shift thoughts and feelings over time.
- Many desires come from external influences, so it helps to notice which values stay steady over time and let those guide daily decisions.
“We overprioritize the epiphany, the watershed moment, and we tend to under appreciate all the little steps that we make along the way after that.”
You’ll hear Eric describe, in raw detail, what day-to-day heroin addiction felt like—“a few moments a day where you get high…and the rest of it is fear and craving and despair and shame”—and how he moved from crime, court dates and the threat of decades in prison to a life where driving prescription painkillers to his mum “had about as much emotional significance as a loaf of bread.” The heart of the episode is practical change: Eric and Jordan break down why dramatic “rock bottom” moments don’t magically fix anything without thousands of tiny follow-up choices.
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and drugs, and how do they actually stick with it when the drama fades and the boring routines begin? This episode shares Eric Zimmer’s candid conversation with Jordan Harbinger about his book *How a Little Becomes a Lot* and the very unglamorous reality of lasting change.
Eric explains his idea of “low resistance actions done consistently over time in the same direction”, whether that’s going to a meeting instead of calling a dealer, putting on gym shoes instead of promising a 90‑minute workout, or meditating for three minutes a day so it actually sticks. They also talk about all‑or‑nothing thinking, the inner “saboteurs” that derail good intentions, and how many of our supposed goals are just social media hand‑me‑downs rather than what we truly value.
With plenty of humour—dark circus brains, alien hand syndrome and the perils of TV adverts—it’s especially helpful for anyone in recovery who feels stuck between knowing what they want and actually doing it. If you’ve ever watched yourself make the exact choice you swore you wouldn’t, this conversation might be the nudge that helps you choose a smaller, kinder next step. What’s one little change you’re ready to keep feeding today?
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