I used to consider myself to be goal-oriented and I was proud of it. But the book Atomic Habits by James Clear (affiliate link) sheds new light on the concept. Clear argues that being goal-oriented is not a sustainable path to lifelong transformation. Why? Because after you’ve completed your goal, there’s a tendency to fall back into your old mode of being. This is called the yo-yo effect. 30-day challenges, and the like, are great but in the long run, they are not effective at transforming you from who you are to who you want to be.
If goal-setting isn’t the answer, how do you make lasting changes towards self-improvement?
Identity driven transformation
To effect lasting change towards self-improvement you have to adopt the identity and habits of the person you want to become. You are not a person who does 30-day pull-up challenges, you are “athletic” and an athletic person exercises. It’s partly what defines them.
Exercise is such a good (and easy to explain) example of this shift from goal-setting to an identity transformation. Before reading Atomic Habits, I’d enter races to fuel my running habit. If I didn’t have the race to prepare for, I’d talk myself out of regular jogs—despite my best intentions. The funny thing is that I enjoy running once I’m out there, but getting out there was a challenge without racing to an end goal. After reading the book, I’ve changed my identity from “a person who trains for races” to “a runner.” What are the habits of a runner? They run. There is no end goal. The activity is a large part of what defines me as a runner. And if I want to maintain that identity, I’ll continue to run.
A quick how-to
Not all examples are as straight forward as my running story but you get the picture. If I were to write a quick how-to guide on identity-driven transformation it would be the following 3 step process:
- Think about a goal you have.
- Identify the identity of a person who would have achieved that goal.
- Adopt the habits of that identity.
Transformation starts now
The pursuit of your ideal identity is something that can sustain you over a lifetime. It gives you a reason to continue on your path, past the milestones of goal achievement.
There are more valuable insights like the in the book Atomic Habits. I would encourage anyone who’s on the road to self-improvement to pick up.