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“You don't have a discipline problem, you have an identity problem.”

Gbammmmm!!!

People will do almost anything that aligns with the kind of person they believe themselves to be. We all struggle to maintain consistency, but once you can convince yourself, “This is who I am,” your actions begin to follow that identity.

For instance, I am the kind of person who writes every day. So even on the days when I am exhausted, frustrated, drowning, crying, or hanging on by a thread, I still write. Not because I always feel like it, but because writing has become part of my identity. And there is hardly anything we protect as fiercely as the identities we have built for ourselves.

So what if, instead of constantly forcing yourself to do the things you want to do, you became the kind of person who naturally does them?

Notice something interesting throughout Scripture. Whenever God brought people into a new dimension of purpose, He often marked that transformation by changing or redefining their identity. Sometimes, that was literally reflected in their names.

Take Abram, for instance.

God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. Abram means “exalted father,” while Abraham is understood as “father of a multitude” or “father of many nations.” And this wasn't merely a change in what people called him. It was a declaration of who God was calling him to become.

Psychologically, there is something similar at work in the way identity influences behaviour. When a behaviour becomes part of your self-concept, you are no longer merely trying to perform an action. You are acting in accordance with who you believe you are.

“I am trying to read more” is different from “I am a reader.”

“I am trying to write consistently” is different from “I am a writer.”

The first requires constant effort to convince yourself to act. The second makes the action an expression of who you already believe yourself to be.

And this is why some habits feel so difficult to sustain. We keep fighting our behaviour without ever addressing the identity underneath it.

Dearest reader, you don't need to spend all your energy asking, “How do I make myself do this?" Maybe the better question is, “Who would I have to become for this to become natural to me?” Because sometimes, the most effective way to change what you do is to first change what you believe about who you are.

@favvy_Okwans🖤.