In “Atomic Habits” James Clear analyses the structure of habits, what makes and breaks them, shedding light on why we fail to build positive ones. Habits are outcome-based — defined by what we want to achieve, or identity-based — built on who we want to be. An outcome-based habit is “I want to write short stories”, whereas an identity-based one is “I want to be a writer”. Motivating yourself by a result is less impactful than concentrating on why it matters. Shifting the perspective gives the change deeper meaning, thus adding an extra incentive to follow through.
