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It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behavior. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.

James Clear

As a general rule, the more immediate pleasure you get from an action, the more strongly you should question whether it aligns with your long-term goals.
JAMES CLEAR

Action Goal Happiness Rule Strong Yourself
When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy.
JAMES CLEAR

Fall In Love Happiness Permission Process Product Wait
Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.
JAMES CLEAR

Inspirational Life Professional Schedule
We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits
JAMES CLEAR

Deal Habit Live Ourselves Quality Run
Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.
JAMES CLEAR

Belief Best Expand Identity Version Yourself
It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behavior. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.
JAMES CLEAR

Belief Change Goal Habit Hard Planning Yourself
Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient.
JAMES CLEAR

Appearance Change Need Patience Process Small Yourself
We don’t choose our earliest habits, we imitate them.
JAMES CLEAR

Choice Early Habit Imitation
Your culture sets your expectation for what is normal. Surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself.
JAMES CLEAR

Culture Expectation Habit Normal People Surround Yourself
Being specific about what you want and how you will achieve it helps you say no to things that derail progress, distract your attention, and pull you off course.
JAMES CLEAR

Achievement Attention Course Distract Help Specific Yourself
The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It’s the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows.
JAMES CLEAR

Mistake Repeat Ruin Yourself
How can I make it obvious? How can I make it attractive? How can I make it easy? How can I make it satisfying?
JAMES CLEAR

Attraction Easy Myself Satisfaction Work
What do you want to stand for? What are your principles and values? Who do you wish to become?
JAMES CLEAR

Principle Stand Value Yourself
Motivation is overrated, environment often matters more.
JAMES CLEAR

Environment Motivational Place
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.
JAMES CLEAR

Action Belief Build Evidence Identity Person Transformation Type Vote Yourself
The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do.
JAMES CLEAR

Action Change Practice Way Work Yourself
I didn’t start out as a writer. I became one through my habits.
JAMES CLEAR

Habit Oneself Start Writing
True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement.
JAMES CLEAR

Accomplishment End Goal Improvement Thinking True
With outcome-based habits, the focus is on what you want to achieve. With identity-based habits, the focus is on who you wish to become.
JAMES CLEAR

Achievement Focus Habit Identity Result
A lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review is the antidote.
JAMES CLEAR

Aware Cure Poison Reflection
The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game.
JAMES CLEAR

Game Goal Play Purpose Win
Your behaviors are usually a reflection of your identity.
JAMES CLEAR

Identity Reflection Yourself
Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with your identity, you will fail to put them into action.
JAMES CLEAR

Action Failure Goodness Habit Identity Yourself
Put another way, the costs of your good habits are in the present. The costs of your bad habits are in the future.
JAMES CLEAR

Bad Cost Future Goodness Habit Present
In fact, the tendency for one purchase to lead to another one has a name: the Diderot Effect. The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption
JAMES CLEAR

Consumption Creation Fact Leadership Oneself Possession
A very small shift in direction can lead to a very meaningful change in destination.
JAMES CLEAR

Change Destination Direction Leadership Meaningful Small
When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practicing.
JAMES CLEAR

Change Form Practice Preparation Yourself

It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behavior. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.

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It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behavior. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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