Most people focus on outcome based goals, like losing 20 lbs. But these are surface level changes. The root of behavior change and building better habits is your identity. Each action you perform is driven by the fundamental belief that it is possible. So if you change your identity (the type of person that you believe that you are), then it's easier to change your actions.

Don't focus on outcome-based goals

Your identity emerges out of your habits. You are not born with preset beliefs. Every belief, including those about yourself, is learned and conditioned through experience. <a href="https://jamesclear.com/identity-votes#footnote-1-5840">1 </a> More precisely, your habits are how you embody your identity. When you make your bed each day, you embody the identity of an organized person. When you write each day, you embody the identity of a creative person. When you train each day, you embody the identity of an athletic person.

Habits help to embody your identity

The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. In fact, the word identity was originally derived from the Latin words essentitas , which means being, and, identidem , which means repeatedly . Your identity is literally your "repeated beingness." <a href="https://jamesclear.com/identity-votes#footnote-2-5840">2 </a>

Repeated behavior reinforces identity

As you repeat actions, the evidence accumulates and your self-image begins to change. The effect of one-off experiences tends to fade away while the effect of habits gets reinforced with time, which means your habits contribute most of the evidence that shapes your identity. In this way, the process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself.

Grow into yourself through habit formation

In one of my very first articles, I discussed a concept called identity-based habits. The basic idea is that the beliefs you have about yourself can drive your long-term behavior. Maybe you can trick yourself into going to the gym or eating healthy once or twice, but if you don't shift your underlying identity, then it's hard to stick with long-term changes.

How to Change Your Beliefs and Stick to Your Goals for Good

Shawny Green