Change Starts from the inside out

Notes

When you try to change yourself, don't start by focusing on your actions - like saying "I want to lose 5 pounds", but rather focus on the identity you want to adapt - "i want to be a healthy person". Focusing on the identity provides the motivation, the direction, and the longevity of a successful change, instead of actions which are short-sighted, lack the "why", and irrelevant once completed Trust the Process . Instead of forcing ourselves to act in a certain way, we rewrite our life narrative in a way that makes us wish to embrace that new lifestyle.

When we embrace a new identity, we allow ourselves to change across time Intertemporal Identity. We manage to implement our Second order thinking as a source for change. This is opposite to the idea of fake it till you make it, the idea that change, learning, and being, comes from experimentation and action, not self affirming statements.

The added benefit is that when we embrace a new identity rather than just changing our actions, we implement a Growth Mindset, we prove that not only we can act differently, we can become a different, better person. Also, claiming a new identity is like a Fresh start, we are not limited by the actions, tendencies and behaviors of our "past self", rather we are now someone new who could adopt a new lifestyle without previous baggage.

However, embracing a new identity is not so easy. One can argue that even in the best case scenario, our identities are not replaced, rather layered on top of another, so the range of potential identities that we can embrace is limited by who we were in the past.

Visual

Overview

🔼Topic:: Personal identity (MOC) ◀Origin:: Atomic Habits (book) 🔗Link::