ATOMIC HABITS BOOK STUDY AND PRACTICE - CHAPTER 2

 

How your habits shape your identity  (and vice-versa)


KEY POINTS

* Habits create our identity: our identity (who we think we are) is made out of all the tiny things that we do every day.  Our identity is created by our habits. 

* Our identity is what we believe about ourselves.

* Most of the time we inherit our habits from our family and society.

* Behind an action system there is a belief system. Our actions come from our beliefs. Our identity is behind our habits.


The creation of our identity is a feedback loop

The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce an identity.

The stronger we connect with an identity, the more we are going to do things that bring us closer to that identity.


Every belief, including what you believe about yourself, comes from experience. Our habits are how we embody our identity.



Identity-Based Habits

* The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first. 

* Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. What you do now is a mirror image of the type of person you believe that you are (either consciously or subconsciously).

* To change your behavior for good, you need to start believing new things about yourself. You need to build identity-based habits.


There are three layers of behavior change  (these are the three levels at which change can occur)



The first layer is changing your outcomes. This level is concerned with changing your results: losing weight, publishing a book, winning a championship. Most of the goals you set are associated with this level of change.

The second layer is changing your process. This level is concerned with changing your habits and systems: implementing a new routine at the gym, decluttering your desk for better workflow, developing a meditation practice. Most of the habits you build are associated with this level.

The third and deepest layer is changing your identity. This level is concerned with changing your beliefs: your worldview, your self-image, your judgments about yourself and others. Most of the beliefs, assumptions, and biases you hold are associated with this level.


Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do.

 Identity is about what you believe.

***

Behind an action system, there is a belief system. Our actions come from our beliefs. Our identity is behind our habits.




The Two Steps to Create Sustained Success

1. Decide the type of person you want to be: what identity do you want to incarnate?

2. Prove it to yourself with small wins: create small atomic habits that support your new identity.


Example: 

Goal: Write a book

Identity:  Writer. Become the type of person who writes 1,000 words every day.

Atomic Habit: Write one paragraph each day this week.


EXERCISES

1. Write down 3 of your current identities.  What are the habits that support those identities?


2.  With an identity-based approach, the focus is on who we wish to become,

not what we want to achieve.  Answer the following questions

 - Who is the type of person you want to become? 

-  I’m the type of person who: _____________________  (Your desired Identity)

- What is one habit that casts a small vote for becoming that type of person?  

- The habit I’ll be focusing on is:__________________ (The habit that reinforces your desired identity)


3. Decide the type of person you want to be by asking yourself these questions:

• Who is the type of person who can achieve the outcomes that you want?

• Who do you want to be?

• What values do you want to stand for?

• What principles are important to you? 





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