James Clear
speaker
1,852 appearances
7 recordings
7 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard 12 May
James Clear’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Jan 2026 with 2.
Appearances
But the real reason, the true reason that habits matter is that every action you take is like a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
So no, doing one pushup does not transform your body, but it does cast a vote for I'm the type of person that doesn't miss workouts.
And no, giving one bit of positive feedback to somebody on your team does not make you the world's best leader, but it does cast a vote for I'm the type of team member who cares about the people around them.
And I think this is a little bit different than what you often hear.
You often hear something like fake it till you make it.
And I don't necessarily have anything wrong with fake it till you make it.
It's asking you to believe something positive about yourself.
However, 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 called a delusion, right?
Like we have this mismatch between what you say you are and what you're actually doing.
And so my encouragement is to let the behavior lead the way.
To let...
sending one email or writing one sentence or meditating for five minutes to let that small action be evidence that in that moment you were that kind of person.
And then as you start to cast votes for that identity, you have every reason in the world to believe it.
And so I think this is what really gets habits to stick.
It is the
reinforcement of your story.
It's the reinforcement of how you see yourself and the identity that you're trying to build.
And that's why I say, I think we should often start by asking not what do I wish to achieve, but who do I wish to become?
And how are my actions reinforcing that?
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