New Year has come and you are celebrating, wishing everyone and getting wishes saying Happy New year, May this new year bring you great things, etc. You make resolutions to do something new like going for a gym, thinking to meet friends more often or sleep early. If you are like most people, you would never implement them or maybe next year you will think of them again.
To accomplish something, you need to build a routine more than resolution/aspiration. Good routine improves you every day and bad routines push you back.
Stephen King who wrote 50 plus books has a routine of writing 6 pages a day. Tim Ferriss who have 300+ million downloads for his podcast and the author of few best selling books of all time have a morning routine of writing a journal for self-reflection. Sean Ellis who Invented the term growth hacking has the routine of weekly meetings for growth, checking the KPI’s and selecting the next week’s experiments for growth. Successful people and businesses Identify a routine that works for them and do it repeatedly.
Things you do every day like brushing your teeth, taking your phone into the washroom, watching a movie at dinner time, going to the gym after office, reading a book are your routines which happens without thinking. Things you do every day becomes your Identity. For example, if you sleep late every day, your Identity becomes as a night owl.
If you want to change yourself, start thinking to change your Identity. If you are sleeping late, ask yourself in the night – If I am a morning person, would I stay this late? If you are overeating, ask yourself – would you eat that junk food that you are craving to buy now?
It is easier to set a routine once you believe yourself with your new Identity and these new routines will stick with you for a long time. This change is not going to come in a day, but remind yourself every day and you will have a great start at changing routines and becoming a new you(new Identity).
What is your goal for a new Identity for yourself this year?
PS: This article Idea is inspired from Atomic Habits book.