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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

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Marilyn Monroe Paulo Coelho Abraham Lincoln C. S. Lewis Khalil Gibran Charlie Chaplin Gautama Buddha Isaac Newton

Research has shown that once a person believes in a particular aspect of their identity, they are more likely to act in alignment with that belief.
JAMES CLEAR

Act Belief Believe Identity Person Research
Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement
JAMES CLEAR

Habit Improvement Interest
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
You need to know who you want to be.
JAMES CLEAR

Identity Personality Yourself
A very small shift in direction can lead to a very meaningful change in destination.
JAMES CLEAR

Change Destination Direction Leadership Meaningful Small
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
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
Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.
JAMES CLEAR

Enemy Friendship Goodness Habit Time 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
At some point, everyone faces the same challenge on the journey of self-improvement: you have to fall in love with boredom.
JAMES CLEAR

Boredom Face Fall In Love Improvement Point Yourself
The problem with a goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone.
JAMES CLEAR

Goal Happiness Mentality Problem Yourself
We imitate the habits of three groups in particular: The close. The many. The powerful.
JAMES CLEAR

Group Habit Imitation Myself Particular Powerful
People get so caught up in the fact that they have limits that they rarely exert the effort required to get close to them.
JAMES CLEAR

Close Effort Limitation People Rare
Motivation is overrated, environment often matters more.
JAMES CLEAR

Environment Motivational Place
We don’t choose our earliest habits, we imitate them.
JAMES CLEAR

Choice Early Habit Imitation
Whenever you feel authentic and genuine, you are headed in the right direction.
JAMES CLEAR

Authentic Direction Feeling Genuine Head Right Yourself

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.

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