Atomic habits: Tiny changes, Remarkable Results - Chapter 2 Summary

THE FUNDAMENTALS : Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference
Chapter 2 : How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)

Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.

THREE LAYERS OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE

• The first layer is changing your outcomes.
• The second layer is changing your process.
• The third and deepest layer is changing your identity.
  Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.
  The problem is the direction of change. Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.
  The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it.
  True behavior change is identity change. Improvements are only temporary until they become part of who you are. For instance, the goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.

In time, you begin to resist certain actions because “that’s not who I am.”
It can feel comfortable to believe what your culture believes (group identity) or to do what upholds your self- image (personal identity), even if it’s wrong.
Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

THE TWO-STEP PROCESS TO CHANGING YOUR IDENTITY
Your identity emerges out of your habits. The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior.
Whatever your identity is right now, you only believe it because you have proof of it.
The process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself.
This is a gradual evolution. We do not change by snapping our fingers and deciding to be someone entirely new. We change bit by bit, day by day, habit by habit. We are continually undergoing microevolutions of the self.
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.
The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do.
You don’t need an unanimous vote to win an election; you just need a majority. It doesn’t matter if you cast a few votes for a bad behavior or an unproductive habit. Your goal is simply to win the majority of the time.
New identities require new evidence.
It is a simple two-step process:

1. Decide the type of person you want to be >> it’s ok to start with the results you want and work backward to the type of person who could get those results.
2. Prove it to yourself with small wins >> taking small steps to reinforce your desired identity.
   The concept of identity-based habits is our first introduction to another key theme in this book: feedback loops. Your habits shape your identity, and your identity shapes your habits.

THE REAL REASON HABITS MATTER
Identity change is the North Star of habit change.
The true question is: “Are you becoming the type of person you want to become?” The first step is not what or how, but who.
Your identity is not set in stone. You have a choice in every moment.

Chapter Summary

• There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change.
• The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.
• Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
• Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.
• The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself.