Welcome to Under 2, an email series delivering short insights to empower your money life – in 2 minutes or less.
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Identity is a core component of what we do and why. Our brains will automatically want to act in ways that align with WHO we see ourselves to be.
The flip-side is also true: we will automatically see ourselves to BE the kind of person that does what we do. If you keep buying magazines at the checkout, you’ll begin to identify as someone who likes treating yourself to magazines in the checkout aisle… or maybe even as someone who “wastes” money on magazines, depending how your mind flavors it. Thus, identity and action are in a self-perpetuating cycle to keep aligned with each other.
In Atomic Habits, author James Clear hijacks this self-perpetuating cycle, teaching readers to take small actions towards desired habits, as each one is a “vote” for the identity we want to have. When you go for a walk, that’s a “vote” for being someone who goes out walking regularly, which makes it easier to get out there the next time. Likewise, when you move money to savings each month, even if it’s a small amount, that’s a “vote” for being someone who prioritizes saving, so you’re more likely to do it again next month.
Essentially, building a habit is part of shaping your identity in an intentional way. This is very different than letting your current unintentional identity (e.g. “I’m terrible with money” or “I never save enough”) subconsciously or consciously drive your actions instead.
In effect, our cumulative small actions lead to what we next become, for better or worse. By striving for a particular identity – a saver instead of a spender, a reader instead of a shopper, or whatever it may be – we automatically understand a set of habits and ways of living to undertake because it’s how we think of that identity as a total package.
And when we start walking in the shoes of that intentional identity, we begin teaching ourselves, step by step, exactly how to be who we want to become.
If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.
William James
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).
James Clear
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Under 2, an email series designed to share quick bites of wisdom to empower your financial journey (while challenging me to keep it short).
All for now,
Lindsey