Chapter 2: How Your Habits Shape Your Identity
by John Allen · 21 things on Twos
- Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons:
- We try to change the wrong thing
- We try to change our habits in the wrong way
- Outcomes are what you get
- Processes are what you do
- Identity is about what you believe
- The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity
- Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits
- Act like the type of person you already believe yourself to be
- Progress requires unlearning
- Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to upgrade and expand your identity
- The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior
- Identity is literally your repeated beingness
- The process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself
- Each habit is like a suggestion: “Hey, maybe this is who I am”
- Decide the type of person you want to be
- Prove it to yourself with small wins
- Who is the type of person that can run a successful startup
- You need to know who you want to be
- The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results but because they can change your beliefs about yourself