Habits are a double-edged sword. 

When working for you, empowering self talk and a growth-mindset identity can be a powerful force for self-improvement. When working against you, however, the way you perceive yourself when you're by yourself can hinder your growth.

WHY IT MATTERS: Once you have adopted an identity, it can be easy to let your allegiance to it impact your ability to change.

GO DEEPER: Many people stroll through life in a cognitive daze, just going with the flow of the norms tied to their identity.

. . . and a thousand other variations.

When you've told yourself the same story for years, it becomes easy to accept these narratives as fact. Over time, you may resist certain actions because they don't align with your perceived identity. You feel an internal pressure to act consistently with your beliefs and preserve your self-image. As a result, you strive to avoid any contradictions to your self-perception.

The more deeply a thought or action is tied to your identity, the more difficult it is to change it. It can feel comfortable to believe what your culture believes (group identity) or to do what upholds your self-image (personal identity), even if it’s wrong. The biggest barrier to positive change at any level—individual, team, society—is identity conflict. Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with your identity, you will fail to put them into action.

On any given day, you may struggle with your habits because you’re too busy or too tired or too overwhelmed or hundreds of other reasons. Over the long run, however, the real reason you fail to stick with habits is that your self-image gets in the way. This is why you can’t get too attached to one version of your identity. Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

More tomorrow,
Hunter