Act Today Like the Person You Want To Be Tomorrow

An important aspect of behaviour change involves identity change

Ali Hall

Jul 9, 2023

When your behaviour of your actual self conflicts with the behaviour required to achieve your ideal self, the potential of achieving your ideal is greatly reduced.

Let me put this another way.

No one expects to go to the gym once and come out looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold set an intention to build muscle and become a mountain man. With this intention set, he had to match his behaviour to the course he set for himself. He had to devise a process that helped carry him to his goal.

He didn’t aspire to a muscular physique and do nothing about it.

Arnold lived the bodybuilder lifestyle. He adopted the good habits of a bodybuilder. He prioritised lifting weights and fuelling the growth and repair of his muscles with adequate protein.

Who do you want to be in 10 years’ time? To ensure you succeed with your identity ambition, you must start to behave like this person now.

So if you picture yourself as a marathon runner in the future, and you don’t run just now, you must change your behaviour and identify with being a runner. You must make micro changes to your daily habits to steer yourself to the person you want to be.

Achieving change tomorrow starts with action today.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

In the best-selling book Atomic Habits by James Clear, the author talks about the importance of identity in the process of behaviour change.

We need to adapt our worldview and our own self-image if we are to change our behaviour.

A great example in the book is the situation of someone trying to stop smoking.

Consider the possible responses when offered a cigarette. Someone in the process of trying to quit smoking may say, “No thanks, I’m trying to quit,” whereas a non-smoker will say, “No thanks, I don’t smoke.” This subtle wording makes all the difference. The person trying to quit smoking still identifies with being a smoker. If they want to improve their success in quitting smoking, they must answer similarly to non-smokers.

Label yourself with what you want to become. If you are in the process of developing a running habit, call yourself a runner. Beware of saying you are “trying to run” because that will teach you to doubt yourself.

If you want to overhaul your diet and eat healthier, label yourself as a healthy eater, and with each food-oriented decision you make, pass it through the filter of a healthy eater.

Small changes yield big results

Staying on the theme of Atomic Habits, adjusting the direction the nose of an airplane faces by just a couple of degrees may seem insignificant but will result in a completely different destination.

The little changes you make today will only come into effect in the future. Patience and perseverance are the name of the game. Your destination depends on the habits you build today.

Who do you want to be in the future, and what are you doing today to guarantee this? I’d love to hear your input in the comments.