How our identity

is connected to our daily habits

According to James Clear and his book Atomic Habits, a habit, to be created, goes through the following 4 stages:

The 4 stages for creating a habit

Stimulus
Desire
Action
Reward

An act to be done once, can be done even if there are 3 of the 4 stages. However, for this act to become a habit, that is, to repeat it, all 4 stages are necessary.

The first two stages concern the problem: Stimulus and Desire

The last two stages concern the solution: Action and Reward

CREATING GOOD HABITS

Based on these stages, the 4 Laws of creating a good habit arise

Stimulus: Make the habit Obvious

Desire: Make the habit Attractive

Action: Make the habit Easy

Reward: Make the habit Satisfying

BREAKING BAD HABITS

To break a bad habit, all we need to do is reverse the 4 laws.

Breaking a Bad Habit:

Irritant: Make the Habit Invisible
Desire: Make the Habit Repulsive
Action: Make the Habit Difficult
Reward: Make the Habit Unsatisfying

There are two ways to acquire new habits:

1st Way

The first way concerns the result you want to achieve, that is, you create the habit to achieve a result.

2nd Way

The second way concerns the identity of the person who brings the result. You create the habit of the person you need to become to have that result.

In the first way, there is a high probability that we will break the habit after achieving the result.

How many times have you met someone who wants to lose weight, goes to the gym, follows a strict diet and then returns to their old bad habits?

Using the second method in the example above, a person has a much better chance of not only achieving the result of losing weight, but also of maintaining it.

It creates a habit based on the identity of the person who exercises daily and eats better.

A person who exercises and eats better every day is almost certain to achieve and maintain their desired weight.

The same reasoning can be applied to any area of ​​our lives where we want to acquire better habits.

We can consider what kind of person we should become in order to have the desired results for us and maintain them in the long term.

And last but not least.

Most people in their attempt to create a habit based on a result, quickly get frustrated and give up the effort before the desired result is seen.

But if they create a habit based on the identity of the person they need to become, then they can confirm daily with their new habits that they are already that person. And the feeling here is pride, not disappointment.

And for what we do and are proud of ourselves, it is almost impossible to stop doing it.