Preparing your Habits of today to frame the Identity of tomorrow.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Let’s do a reality check, it is well known that to keep our good habits going more than few days is a very difficult task. For instance journaling, meditating or even working out becomes a hassle after couple of days. Regardless of our good intentions unhealthy habits such as eating junk food or wasting our time watching television stick around us forever.
The main reason behind changing our habits is difficult because:
- People try to change the wrong thing.
- People try to change their habits in the wrong way.
When it comes to building habits that can last, it starts by focusing on we wish to become rather than focusing on what we want to achieve. But as a matter of fact, many people will begin the process by following what they want to achieve. We all need to change the direction of our change, by following more on who we want to become.
Let me illustrate this with an example, if two individuals are offered to smoke, the individual who says, “No thank you. I’m not a smoker” is the mindset we need, not the individual who says, “No thanks, I’m trying to quit”. This simple example shows that shift of identity where one is not a smoker and another is a smoker who is trying to form a new habit of quitting to smoke. This shows that behind every system of action their is a firm belief in the individual.
Believe it or not, the ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. The more gratification you have in your identity the more motivated you will be to stick to your habits associated with it. It’s like if you are proud of your biceps muscle you will make sure you never miss your upper body workout.
Improvements are only temporary until it becomes the part of your identity, For instance, the goal is not to run a marathon but to become a runner in the long run.
To sum up, We are simply acting like the type of person we already believe in ourselves. Becoming the best version of ourselves require a continuous edit to our belief and expanding our identity. Good habits can make a rational sense, but if they conflict with our identity the we might fail to put them into action.
Thank you for reading this far. In the next part of this series I will explain to your about “how to change our Identity in simple steps”. So, stay tuned see you in my next article. Till then have a good day.
