James Clear

Shane Parrish: What is the role that identity plays in terms of habit formation? 

James Clear: Ultimately, I feel like identity may be the most important thing with habits. Your habits are how you embody a particular identity. When you make your bed, you embody the identity of someone who is clean and organized. If you study biology for 20 minutes on Tuesday night, you embody the identity of someone who is studious. The act of doing it is proof that you are that type of person, and eventually you start to build up this body of evidence for being that way. You have every reason in the world to believe it.