Identity based habits

This post is about an influential chapter from one of my favorite books — Atomic Habits by James Clear. I will highly recommend this book to those interested in gaining deeper understanding our habits, science behind habits and how to form good habits and erase bad habits.

This post presents nuggets from chapter 2 of Atomic Habits book that talks about Identity based habits.

James nicely lays out 3 layers of behavior change — Outcome based, Process based and Identity based. How most of us tries to change our habits based on outcome we want to achieve. Author presents the idea how outcome based and process based habits are hard to keep for long and how identity based habits tend to stick with you.

What is Identity based habit?

• Identity based habits are related to how changing your identity brings about changes in your habits
• Identity based habits is concerned with changing your beliefs about yourself, world around you, judgements about yourself and others. Outcomes are about what you get, Processes are about what you do and Identity is about what you believe.
• with Identity based habits, we start by focusing on who we wish to become. Key idea with this approach is that — Behind every system of actions are a system of beliefs. Most of us set goals and determine the actions we should take to achieve those goals without considering the beliefs that drive their actions. But we never shift the beliefs behind a set of actions. It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behavior. You have a new goal, a new plan but you haven’t changed who you are.
• The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of our identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this, it’s very different to say I’m the type of person who is this. The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it.
• True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you will stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity. Anyone can convince themselves to visit the gym or eat healthy once or twice, but if you don’t shift the belief behind the behavior, then it is hard to stick with long-term changes. Example — the goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader, goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner.

<Beliefs — Identity — Actions — Reinforcement> Loop

Your behaviors are a reflection of your identity. What you do is an indication of the type of person you believe that you are- either consciously or non-consciously. Once a person believes in a particular aspect of their identity, they are more likely to act in alignment with that belief. Person who incorporates exercise into their identity doesn’t have to convince themselves to train.

• Habit formation is a double-edged sword — when working for your, identity change can be a powerful force for self-improvement. When working against you — it can be a curse. Many people walk through life in a cognitive slumber, just following the norms attached to their identity. For example — “I’m terrible with directions”, “I’m not a morning person”, “I’m bad at remembering people’s names”. When you repeat a story to yourself for years, it is easy to slide into these mental grooves and accept them as a fact.
• We all behave in a way that is consistent with our beliefs because there is internal pressure to maintain self-image. We find whatever way we can to avoid contradicting ourself. The more deeply a thought or action is tied to your identity, the more difficult it is to change it.
• Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs and to upgrade and expand your identity.

If your beliefs and world-view play such an important role in your behavior, where do they come from in the first place? How exactly is your identity formed? and how can you emphasize new aspects of your identity that serve you and gradually erase the pieces that hinder you?

Two-step process to changing your identity

• Your identity emerges from your habits. No one is born with preset beliefs. Every belief including those about yourself is learned and conditioned through experience.
• 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.

The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior.

• Whatever your identity is right now, you only believe it because you have proof of it. If you go church every Sunday for twenty years, you have evidence that you are religious. If you study for one hour every night, you have evidence that you are studious. If you go to the gym even when it’s snowing, you have evidence that you are committed to fitness.

The more evidence you have for a belief, the more strongly you will believe it

• James provided example from his life that — he didn’t consider himself a writer. His school teachers or college professors considered him an average writer at best, certainly not standout. When he began his writing career, he published a new article every Monday and Thursday for a few years. As the evidence grew, so did his identity as a writer. He didn’t start out as a writer, he became one through his habits.

* Habits are not the only actions that influence your identity, but by the virtue of their frequency they are usually the most important ones.

* Each experience in life modifies your self-image, but it is unlikely that you would consider yourself a soccer player because you kicked a ball once or an artist because you scribbled a picture. As you repeat these actions, the evidence accumulates and your self-image begins to change. The effect of of one-off experiences tends to fade away while the effect of habits gets reinforces with time, which means your habits contribute most of the evidence that shapes your identity.

• Each habit is like a suggestion- If you finish a book, then perhaps you are the type of person who likes reading. If you go to the gym, then perhaps you are the type of person who likes exercise. If you practice playing the guitar, perhaps you are the type of person who like music.

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.

• This is one reason why meaningful change does not require radical change. Small habits can make a meaningful difference by providing evidence of a new identity.
• The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. Each habit not only gets results but also teaches you something far more important: to trust yourself. You start to believe you can actually accomplish these things. When the votes mount up and the evidence begins to change, the story you tell yourself begins to change as well.
• When we do perform a bad habit, it is a vote for that identity. It doesn’t matter if you cast a few votes for a bad behavior or unproductive habit. Your goal is to simply cast majority votes for good habits.

New identities require new evidence. And forming new identity is a two step process: (1) Decide the type of person you want to be. (2) Prove it to yourself with small wins.

• Most of us do know what kind of results we want — to get fit, to double their salary, to feel more calmer. Best way to form a new identity to achieve these is to work backwards — ask yourself — who is the type of person who could get the outcome I want? who is the type of person who could lose forty pounds? who is the type of person that could learn a new language? who is the type of person that could run a successful startup?
• Who is the type of person who could write a book — it is someone who is consistent and reliable. Now your focus shifts from writing book(outcome based) to being the type of person who is consistent and reliable(identity based)
• Once you know the type of person you want to be, you can being taking small steps to reinforce your desired identity. Your habits shape your identity and your identity shape your habits.

You have the power to change your beliefs about yourself. Your identity is not set in stone. You have a choice in every moment. You can choose the identity you want to reinforce today with the habits you choose today.