Why I Created
Lizard Gym
Lizard Gym came as a result of my personal journey towards discovering how I can actually start showing up in my life in a way that aligns with my desired vision.
My entire life, I struggled with following through consistently and sustainably. I thought I wasn't motivated enough. Or maybe not disciplined enough. Or maybe not confident enough.
I was convinced that something was just wrong with me.
Until one day, I decided I would do whatever it takes to figure out what was actually going on and how I could stop getting in my own way. And eventually, I did.
Not because I felt like it. But because I could feel that everything I wanted in life was on the other side. There was no option of failure, because that would have meant giving up on myself entirely. It was, quite literally, now or never. So, I got to work.
I started putting together everything I knew from psychology, psychotherapy, philosophy, psychosomatics, neuroscience, meditation, and – most importantly – my own lived experience.
I started building, testing, and living my own system.
Lizard Gym is what helped me quit habits that were draining me and develop the ones that were building me up.
Little by little, I was becoming the version of myself I had been longing to be for years.
To give you an idea, in the span of one year, I was able to:
✓ Quit smoking, alcohol, and caffeine.
✓ Heal my relationship with food after 15 years of food chaos.
✓ Learn genuinely healthy ways to regulate my emotions.
✓ Face some of my biggest fears so far (for me, that was singing on stage).
✓ Turn many of my "I should do this more often" into regular practices.
✓ Begin choosing my thoughts intentionally (this is probably the biggest one).
It's not like I did it all in one day. But once I started taking action – even small actions – something shifted. I built such a strong momentum that it almost became addictive. Not addictive in the sense of "let's fix my entire life now and turn this into an unhealthy obsession," but in the sense of:
"Hey... I can actually change things in myself. I'm not powerless. I'm not doomed."
For someone who had spent years believing they simply weren't capable of changing, this was a huge breakthrough.
It was everything I had ever wanted. To know that I could actually lead myself towards my goals.
I didn't just want to understand how I had done it. I wanted to master it. I wanted to build a system that would allow me to teach it to others who were stuck in the same place I had once been.
Lizard Gym is the result of that decision.
What Is Lizard Gym?
Lizard Gym is a behavior change framework that trains one fundamental skill: acting in alignment with the person you want to become.
It can be applied to any change you want to make in your life – from quitting unwanted habits (such as smoking, overeating, drinking, or negative self-talk) to building new, desired ones (such as jogging, meditation, or learning an instrument).
LG works across all of these because it focuses on one very specific issue that sits at the heart of feeling stuck:
The problem isn't that you don't know what to do. The problem is that, in the moment it's time to do it, something keeps getting in the way.
LG focuses exactly on that moment. It teaches you how to start acting differently in that moment.
The process unfolds gently, gradually, and sustainably – without making you feel like you'll have to fight yourself forever.
It's not about white-knuckling, self-torture, becoming a robot, or giving up on pleasure. None of that.
On the contrary, I believe the process of change should feel inspiring, liberating, and empowering.
LG achieves that because it:
-
works with your nervous system, not against it
-
brings change through increasing safety, not pressure
-
follows a gradual approach instead of cold-turkey methods
-
is based on acting in alignment with your values
-
prioritizes regulation over pushing through
-
fosters self-love rather than self-blame
-
doesn't require overnight 180° changes
-
creates noticeable progress from the very beginning
-
builds genuine, lasting self-trust
LG is a framework, but you can also think of it as a skill: the skill of self-leadership.
You begin with one change.
You learn how to use the framework.
You achieve the change you wanted.
But something much bigger happens in the process.
You haven't just checked off another goal.
You have learned how to lead yourself through change.
And that's the real goal of Lizard Gym:
to give you a lifelong skill that allows you to keep becoming exactly who you want to be.
How Does Lizard Gym Work?
LG works with two major parts of your brain:
1. The Coach – the "CEO department."
This is the strategic part of your brain that helps you rationalize, plan, make decisions, and think long-term. It's the part that creates the five-year plan.
2. The Lizard – the "protection department."
This part prioritizes safety and regulation. It reacts quickly, automatically, and is much more primitive in its nature. It's the part that suddenly comes up with a brilliant excuse the moment you're about to do something unfamiliar.
Neither of these parts is the enemy. Both are important.
The main idea behind LG is that, just like your body – and just like your CEO – the Lizard is trainable too.
The same way you go to the gym to train your body, you can use the LG system to train your Lizard.
(By the way, the "Lizard" is simply a metaphor for the more primitive, protective part of the brain. If a lizard doesn't resonate with you, yours can be a stubborn donkey, an overexcited dog, a grumpy grandma, a movie character, an avatar, or anything else that helps you visualize it.)
So, how do we train the Lizard?
We train it by acknowledging it, understanding it, befriending it, and gradually learning how to coach it.
While I guide you throughout the process, you become the coach training your own Lizard.
You're the one doing the reps. I'm simply teaching you how.
The process begins with taking action. Not planning. Not waiting. Not endlessly preparing. Taking action.
Not because you suddenly feel ready, but because we start with actions so small that your Lizard barely minds doing them. In LG, we call these half-kilo reps. Imagine walking into a gym and lifting half a kilo. It seems ridiculously small.
But that's exactly why it works. Over time, you slowly increase the "weights" you give your Lizard. Patiently. Gradually. One rep at a time.
LG is the perfect example of trusting the process. Because that's exactly what it is built around: starting immediately – even if the action feels ridiculously small – and gradually building strength, confidence, capacity, and self-trust.
You'd be surprised how quickly those tiny reps build momentum.
And once you understand the process, you can apply it to every area of your life.
Eventually, LG doesn't just help you achieve one goal.
It teaches you how to stop feeling powerless in the face of change.
It teaches you how to lead yourself.