Making of an Empire

Episode 11 - Making and Breaking Habits with Ed Ley

• Aditi Jajal-Newey

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0:00 | 52:32

The Help Me Unlock Podcast has been rebranded to Making of an Empire. Same magic, same awesome guest line-up, just a bit of that empire energy! 

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Your brain is not broken. It is doing exactly what it was designed to do. In this episode, Aditi sits down with Ed Ley, neuro leadership coach and founder of CXO Secrets, to pull back the curtain on why the habits that hold us back are not character flaws. They are survival mechanisms. And once you understand that, EVERYTHING changes.


Let's Dive Into the Highlights

  • The Battery Brain: Why your brain is always trying to conserve energy, and how understanding this single principle can unlock faster, more sustainable habit change without the self-blame.
  • The Implementation Gap: You already know what to do. The real question is why you are not doing it. Ed reframes the problem from one of information to one of implementation, and the distinction will shift how you approach change forever.
  • Neurons That Fire Together: Ed breaks down the neuroscience of habit formation and why the "21 days to form a habit" rule is a myth. Habits are built on repetition and reward, not a fixed number of days.
  • The White Space Problem: Why high-performing founders are secretly terrified of doing nothing, and how that fear of empty space is silently sabotaging the very growth they are working towards.
  • Making Yourself: Ed and Aditi explore the idea that you are not discovering a fixed self. You are actively creating one. And that means the behaviours and beliefs you thought were locked in are far more flexible than you have been told.


Behind the Breakthrough

Ed Ley is a coach who uses the neuroscience of transformation to help CEOs and leaders understand and work with their brains rather than against them. His work supports clients in moving away from overworking, overthinking, and overwhelm, towards high energy, enjoyment, and excellence in themselves and their teams.

With a BSc in Sport Conditioning, Coaching and Rehabilitation from the University of the West of England, Ed has delivered TEDx Talks in both Bristol and Denmark on behavioural change. He works with clients across the US, the UK, Europe and Asia, and six years ago made the move from the UK to the coast of Copenhagen, where he now lives with his family.

Ed is one of those rare people whose perspective does not just inform the room. It shifts it entirely. His thinking shows up in his content, his talks, and every corner of his body of work, and this conversation is no exception.


The Guest Said It Best

"The work can be done alone. It's much more fun and it's much faster to do it with someone."

"Most of us are just driving with the brakes on."

"You can't just jump to the top of the mountain. You've got to take a step either over it or around it."

"Our brain is never not creating habits. Not in any single moment is it not creating a habit."


Key Takeaways

  1. You Have an Implementation Problem, Not an Information Problem: Most founders already know what they need to do. The gap is not knowledge, it is execution. That is where the real work lives.
  2. Start with Subtraction: Instead of asking what you need to add to your life, ask what you could stop doing. One removed friction point creates more forward momentum than ten new strategies.
  3. Habit Formation is About Repetition and Reward, Not Days: Stop counting. Your brain does not care how many days have passed. It cares whether the behaviour was rewarding and whether it is worth repeating.
  4. White Space is a Skill: Creating mental and calendar space feels uncomfortable because your brain is wired to fill it. But the leaders who master it make better decisions, faster.
  5. You Are Making Yourself, Not Finding Yourself: The identity you are building is not fixed. Every belief you hold is a tool, not a truth. Run experiments. See what fits. Let yourself evolve.


A Question for You

Ed says that most of us are driving with the brakes on in every area of our lives. So before you add anything else to your plate this week, what is the one thing you could stop doing that would create the most momentum for where you are trying to go?



Take the Next Step

Want more of Ed's thinking? He has just launched his newsletter, CXO Secrets, which you can find via his website and LinkedIn, where he shows up consistently and generously.

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