Are you what you do?
James Clear says identity change is the North Star for habit change. He's right. But what about the reverse? Because your habits are quietly shaping who you are. The loop works both ways.
Your Habits Are Shaping Your Identity Too
That can be great. If you prepare diligently, that's your habit, and you become someone who's prepared. If your habit is to avoid conflict, you become someone who avoids conflict. Either way, the things you do automatically are building who you are.
Your Labels Are Your Limits
So remember this: your labels are your limits. Are you building the identity you want, or are you limiting who you can be by the habits you have and the labels you place on yourself?
Choose Habits Based on Who You Want to Become
Which leads to this: choose habits based on who you want to become. Choosing habits means changing habits — and our habits play a huge role, but they can change. We can choose them, or create them, to help us become who we want to be.
What This Means for Your Team's Culture
Now think about this organizationally for a second. Culture is collective identity, shaped by collective habits — the way we do things without thinking about it. So what are the habits your people are repeating that might be reinforcing the wrong identity?
When we can name it, we can see it. And when we can see it, we can interrupt the current habit and intentionally model the ones that give us the culture we want.
What you do doesn't have to be who you are, but what you do consistently will shape who you become.
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