Shift Your Identity

Imagining two people resisting cigarette. When offered a smoke, the first person says, “No thanks. I’m trying to quit.” The second person declines by saying, “No thanks. I’m not a smoker.”

 It’s a small difference, but this statement signals a shift in identity. Smoking was part of their fo...

Avoid thinking about changing a habit, but instead think about changing your self-conception.

Pros:

•  “I’m a healthy person now,” for example can trigger eating better, exercising more and quitting smoking and drinking all at once.
• If successful, these...

1. Changing your identity will automatically lead you to discard some behaviours that are not associated with that identity, helping you stop smoking or eating meat, for example.
2. Your behaviour will align with the behaviour of the chosen identity.
3. You...