Identity, Habits, and Goals

Goals are important.  But perhaps more important than goals are our habits.  Best-selling author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, has popularized the focus on habits and process trumping the formation of goals. 

Of course, Clear didn’t invent the focus on habits, The Australian author, F.M. Alexander provides my favorite sentiment around habits, stating, “People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.”

In The Greatest Salesman in the World (a top 25 favorite book of all time for me; and a book that should NOT be judged by the title), Og Mandino echoes this stating, "I will form good habits and become their slave."

Clear encourages his readers to spend some time thinking about our identity. 

Who are we trying to become?

And, of course, our identity can have multiple facets.

From there, work back and focus on developing the actions and habits that connect to that identity. 

“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. And if a change is meaningful, it is actually big. That’s the paradox of making small improvements.”  -James Clear