I was practicing Habit Formation the wrong way!
This is a self-headed discussion from James Clear’s novel Atomic Habits, this article discusses the ideas in second chapter of Atomic Habits: How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa). In this chapter, James Clear discusses about three different stages in which the behavior can effect the habit formation, it is classified in Outcomes, Process and Identity. The common practice is to be outcome-oriented, we focus on what we want rather than who we need to be in-order to achieve the goal, which consecutively leads to shorter span of Habits continuity. For a more lasting Habit formation it is suppose to go other way round.
Changing your outcomes
This is an direct approach to change results with the motivation of end-goal, people associate most of the goals with this level. Certainly, habits formed with this approach can loose it’s credibility as you are more inclined to get demotivated after sometime with change in environment, conditions or simply opting for a new goal
Changing your process
This level describes the habit formation with focus on the evolution of process, if you change the way you practice it, essentially you are focusing on improving the system
Changing your identity
This is fundamentally changing your belief system and challenging the previous assumptions. At this level it’s about describing your identity based on what are you habits, if you establish an I am attitude instead of I can you are more likely to act and behave as you’d expect
Outcomes are about what you get, Processes are about what you do
You are a sum product of all your actions and belief, Identity is nothing but what you believe in. If you pivot to Processes then your are building an identity for yourself whereas, if you opt for Outcomes then it’ll probably be temporary which will fade away. If you choose the right direction of change you can lead to a progressive path and eventually end up being who you wish to become
No thanks, I’m not a smoker
The way you think of yourself matters the most, if you resist an offer to smoke a cigarette when you are trying to quiet, you are more likely to have an event of pride when you say No thanks, I’m not a smoker instead of No thanks, I am trying to quiet. The former approach associates you with an identity of an Non-smoker and when there’s a shift in identity, how you behave also changes
Behavior that is in-congruent with the self will not last
When you start practicing a Habit, you are more willing to fight once your pride gets involved. If it’s not who you are than what you do won’t align for long because the biggest factor in changing is the identity conflict
The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader
Your behavior is a reflection of your identity. When you exercise habits you gradually start believing in the process and affirming the possibility of change, You act like the person you believe you are
If you change what you do, you’ll change who you are
Now taking it a little deep, performing habits is a vote for identity because you inherit a latent bias and you don’t need a unanimous vote to win an election; you just need majority. All that matters is for you to develop more good habits even if the bad ones stay, they’ll gradually be banished since progress requires unlearning
Your habits shape your identity and your identity shapes your habit
It’s a two way street, both habits and identity go hand-in-hand. Identity change is the North star of habit change, When you focus on one, you inherit the other
Naturally, It’s not about what or how, but who? Who you want to be.
