Atomic Habits Chapter 2 quick recap

There there there..
It took me ages to decide to write the second chapter. 

I had my exams last month and I performed very bad, but one thing that kept revolving in my mind was: I don't even know what went wrong dude. I can't figure it out. 
Now I know what was wrong, after a month of fiddling myself, I know what the problem was.
Lol, it was never me but my Sleep. 
I slept through the night accidentally and studied nothing. 
This was my problem and it repeated itself every day. Sadly it has gotten better these days but I still fall asleep and am unable to catch up with my schoolwork. Lemme know if anyone knows the solution. 

But right now, let's get deeper into Chapter 2: 

How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice-Versa). 

Why is it so easy to repeat bad habits and so hard to form good ones? We'll have a moment to think...

It often feels difficult to keep good habits going for more than a few days, even with sincere effort and the occasional burst of motivation. 

It is difficult of course, however, once they are established they seem to stick around forever. (Mostly the unwanted ones: Bad Habits)

Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: a) We try to change the wrong thing. 
b) We try to change our habits in the wrong way. 
This chapter talks address the former. 

Often we make the mistake of changing the wrong thing.
Lets break it down with this beautiful diagram 

There are three levels at which change can occur. 
A) The first layer is changing the outcomes: This level deals with your results, your goals: Scoring a 100 on Maths test, publishing a book, etcetera, etcetera. 
B) The second layer is changing your process: This level is concerned with your habits and systems: Scheduling your tasks, or implementing a new routine. 
C) The third and deepest layer is changing your identity: This has a lot to say about your beliefs, judgment about yourself and others, your self-image, etc. 

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.
It is a stick on the wall worth quote, so do it ASAP.  
When it comes to building long lasting habits, just like the ever lasting effect of One Direction, the direction is change is what decides how ever lasting your habits are. 

We often tend to start by focusing on the outcomes, on what we wanna achieve but The dad(james) says to focus on your identity, and who we wish to become. 

Ayoo I am Kendall Jenner. 

Lemme raise a toast to an example: 

When offered Cigarettes :
Person A says: "No thanks I am tryna quit"
Person B says: "No thanks I am not a smoker"
(Take it to your notes. Look at the generosity of saying thanks!) 

No, did you see the difference?
A still believes he's a smoker but he's trying to change himself. However, B has taken his identity of being a smoker down. And who do you think will likely never smoke again? It is so Obvious: A. 
No! It is  B. 

Most people don't even consider Identity change, like the example above, I want to quit but I am still a smoker; DO YOU THINK IT HELPS? No 
People never shift the way they look at themselves, and they don't realize that their old identity can sabotage their new plans for change. That is why is highly likely for B to never light a cigarette again. 

As they say, we have a good system of actions or a system of beliefs. For every individual there is a set of beliefs in assumptions that shape the system and Simultaneously the Identity identity behind the habits.
I say that behavior that does not align with the self and the identity you create for yourself will not last the same as your habit doesn't last. For example, you may want to be a millionaire but if your identity is someone who consumes rather than creates, what do you think will flow in as your IDENTITY? Definitely not a millionaire.
It's hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that lead you to your past behavior. You might have a goal and a plan, it works solid but if you haven't changed who you are, you are certainly not going to make it you where you want to be.

James recommends some tips (and so do I, because I have incurred them in my life while reading this book and while writing this blog of course I have taken a lot of time to write about the second chapter but I have read this chapter way back I wrote this blog) 

• The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your entity the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it 
• Start loving that particular thing you have put yourself in you. 
• Think as if you are already this person. Start loving that version of yourself. You're definitely going to build habits accordingly and you are definitely going to stick to it for a long time or maybe forever.
• Once your pride gets involved you will fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.

Now these are few affirmations I want to repeat while reading this blog.

• The goal is not to read this blog, the goal is to become a reader. 
• The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner. 
• The goal is not to write this blog, the goal is to become a writer. 

Your behaviors are nothing but The reflections of your identity. And when this really happens then you don't really need to think about maintaining that habit or flow, you are simply acting like the type of person you wanna be.
If you make it your identity: 

if you think you are a fitness freak, you don't really need to think about going to the gym every day, you are just going you're not even thinking about it. 

Once you've adopted an identity it can easy to let your allegiance to it impact your ability to change. 

So basically, if you say bad things about yourself you're most likely to witness bad results in your life. If you consider yourself terrible in something, you're most likely to get the things terribly done and worse than your capability. 

When you have repeated the story to yourself for years and years it's easy to just slide into that mental state and accept it as a fact and that is why you're unable to get off that bed and do some work. 

You're just saying ok it's fine to relax. 

You're just taking a break but in reality, you're wasting time because you have fed your mind that it is OK to relax, but it is not and that is why you end up thinking:

why was I not able to get off, 

I rested too much. 

I wasted a lot of time.

It was you who decided it. This Is It and that is why you are achieving those results. this is what the thing with the habits is. But changing your identity binds you to maintain that certain self-image and prove it yourself that OK I reside within this, and this is so ME. 

The two-step process to changing your identity:

An identity emerges out of your habits it is learned and conditioned through experience. The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. Whatever your identity is right now you believe it because you have proof of it, and the proof is you've been doing it continuously since maybe the day you were born.
That being said the more evidence you have for the identity, the more strongly you are going to stick to it. 

By virtue of the frequency of your habits, considering them the important ones and with each experience you modify your actions to the effect of one of experience that may tend to fade away but the effect of the habits gets reinforced with time and that is why having only one experience about something does not make you a person. What does is, constantly writing and writing and you've been writing for ages then you're definitely a writer.
Don't forget about it fret about it. 

It is a gradual evolution, you don't change your identity overnight or within a snap of your fingers deciding that ok
I'm gonna be completely mischievous from tomorrow.
I'm not gonna talk to anyone that's it.
However, in reality, you're a person who is very social.
Do you think you're going to change? Of course not. 
I'm not telling you to be mischievous by the way, what I'm trying to say is we are continually undergoing micro evolutions of the self and each habit is like a suggestion: Maybe this is who I am.
This is the reason it brings us back to the title of this book:  Meaningful changes do not require radical changes but small habits like these. 

Like your everyday tasks can make a meaningful difference by providing evidence of a new identity you build for yourself. And if it changes something, brother it is actually big.

I'm going repeat the same things James said in the book: the most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. 

Each time you write a page, you're a writer.
Each time you practice a violin, you're a musician.
Each time you start a workout, you are an athlete.
Each time you encourage your employees you are a great leader.
That means each time you repeat a habit not only does it get the results, but also teaches you something far more important, which is to trust yourself and stick to that new reality you created.
New identities require new evidence, if you keep casting the same things you've done your entire life it's not gonna change you, it's not gonna help you to get into a new form you want for yourself.
If nothing changes nothing is going to change.

There are simply two things you need to ask to yourself to decide the type of person you wanna be.
Prove it to yourself with small wins.
Every time you are doing something which you used to do, stand there for a while and ask yourself Does this align with the new personality I am creating for myself?
Is this the type of person I wanna be would want to do?.

The concept of identity-based habits puts you in feedback loops which the book is likely to talk about later, I've already read about it though I'm gonna talk about it in my next blog.

Now let's wrap up this chapter which I have been putting off for so long. 

The real reason habits build identity is to perform a task rapidly. You are creating that version of yourself gaining all the evidence that these are the things lining up that are going to create anything you wish for. To stick to one habit you need to create the identity of who is most likely to do that habit you are building or you're thinking of sticking to so they are counterparts of each other.
If habits don't exist, identity won't be created but if the identity doesn't exist there would be no habit.