James Clear

So no, doing one pushup does not radically transform your body, but it does cast a vote for I'm the type of person who doesn't miss workouts. And no, writing one sentence may not finish the novel, but it does cast a vote for I'm a writer. I think this is like a meaningful difference between my approach or what I recommend and what you often hear.

Like you often hear something like fake it till you make it. I don't necessarily have anything wrong with fake it till you make it. It's asking you to believe something positive about yourself, but it's asking you to believe something positive without having evidence for it. And we have a word for beliefs that don't have evidence. We call that delusion.

Like you often hear something like fake it till you make it. I don't necessarily have anything wrong with fake it till you make it. It's asking you to believe something positive about yourself, but it's asking you to believe something positive without having evidence for it. And we have a word for beliefs that don't have evidence. We call that delusion.

Like at some point, your brain doesn't like this mismatch between what you're saying and what you're actually doing. And so to bring it back to your question about my friend who lost all this weight, I think you have to genuinely believe that story about yourself in order for the actions to start to feel aligned.

Like at some point, your brain doesn't like this mismatch between what you're saying and what you're actually doing. And so to bring it back to your question about my friend who lost all this weight, I think you have to genuinely believe that story about yourself in order for the actions to start to feel aligned.

And what do you do if you don't genuinely believe you're a healthy person or don't genuinely believe that I'm the kind of person who would track my macros or whatever? Well, I think you have to start with these very small habits. You have to start by proving it to yourself in some little way. Maybe it's just that you did walk the three blocks to the meeting and didn't take the taxi.

And what do you do if you don't genuinely believe you're a healthy person or don't genuinely believe that I'm the kind of person who would track my macros or whatever? Well, I think you have to start with these very small habits. You have to start by proving it to yourself in some little way. Maybe it's just that you did walk the three blocks to the meeting and didn't take the taxi.

Or maybe it's just that you did order a salad for lunch and not a burger and fries. And none of those things individually are going to change your body or even the story right away. But if you keep casting votes for that behavior and keep casting votes for that identity, then then eventually you get to the point where it's like the basketball example.

Or maybe it's just that you did order a salad for lunch and not a burger and fries. And none of those things individually are going to change your body or even the story right away. But if you keep casting votes for that behavior and keep casting votes for that identity, then then eventually you get to the point where it's like the basketball example.

You kind of have to admit that you're a basketball player because you've been shooting hoops for the last two years. And like, this is just part of who you are now. So I think that that's the primary difference between the two of us is that I already kind of had that story. And early on, she didn't. Now she does. So who knows?

You kind of have to admit that you're a basketball player because you've been shooting hoops for the last two years. And like, this is just part of who you are now. So I think that that's the primary difference between the two of us is that I already kind of had that story. And early on, she didn't. Now she does. So who knows?

Maybe now she could just track her macros just as easily or even easier than I can. I don't know. But I think that that shift there.

Maybe now she could just track her macros just as easily or even easier than I can. I don't know. But I think that that shift there.

Like I don't ever want to eat that again. Yeah. Well, you said something similar to that a few minutes ago about how like it bothers you to not work out sometimes. Nir Eyal, who also has written about habits, has kind of a little measure for that where he's like his measure for whether it's a habit or not is does it bother you when you don't do it?

Like I don't ever want to eat that again. Yeah. Well, you said something similar to that a few minutes ago about how like it bothers you to not work out sometimes. Nir Eyal, who also has written about habits, has kind of a little measure for that where he's like his measure for whether it's a habit or not is does it bother you when you don't do it?

I think that's a signal that it's kind of aligned with your identity. It's like, oh, I kind of feel like I'm not being me if I don't do this. To your point about it taking a long time, it can take much longer than you would think. I mean, my friend told me she had to lose 60 pounds before the first person noticed, before she ever heard anything from somebody else.

I think that's a signal that it's kind of aligned with your identity. It's like, oh, I kind of feel like I'm not being me if I don't do this. To your point about it taking a long time, it can take much longer than you would think. I mean, my friend told me she had to lose 60 pounds before the first person noticed, before she ever heard anything from somebody else.

That's a lot of weight and a long time to be working in essentially what feels like a vacuum. It feels like you're just doing it for yourself and no external feedback from the world. So this comes back to a lot of the things we've already talked about, about process and falling in love with the system and a lot of things that go into it.

That's a lot of weight and a long time to be working in essentially what feels like a vacuum. It feels like you're just doing it for yourself and no external feedback from the world. So this comes back to a lot of the things we've already talked about, about process and falling in love with the system and a lot of things that go into it.

But it definitely is an internal journey and it definitely will take longer than you would imagine in a lot of cases.