I was reading an article and it said that how you view yourself has a lot to do with how successful you’ll be with building new habits.

For example, if you’re trying to quit smoking and someone offers you a cigarette, you can say, “No, thank you, I’m trying to quit,” or you can say, “No, thank you, I’m not a smoker.” In the first option, you still identify as a smoker. In the second, you’ve changed your identity to that of a non-smoker.

Supposedly the change of identity helps with the success of the habit.

It made me think about a recent habit formation in my life. When I moved, I decided I was going to set the new habit of making my bed every morning. At first, I started out saying, “I’m trying to get in the habit of making my bed.” It felt like an effort, but the more success I had, I started to think of myself as someone who makes their bed every morning. And then the whole process got easier. I still had to consciously think about it, because I was still in the process of building a new habit. But it got easier once I’d changed my identity to “bed maker.” And now it’s grown into a real habit and I don’t have to think about it at all. 🙂

I’ve been trying to get into the habit of not making impulse buys at the store (not always successfully). I’m going to start telling myself, “I’m a person who doesn’t make impulse purchases.” We’ll see how that works out.

What identity shifts can you make to help with forming a new habit you’re working on?