How to change your identity. The easy way
Creating your new identity.
By now, I am hoping you have read some of atomic habits, you will see my constant referencing to changing your identity. This is my take on how to change your identity for weight loss.
We all want another identity; I have never met a single person in this world who would not change anything about their life. Even the most content person in the world would want to change some aspects of their lives, ask them do you want more money? Do you want to be taller? Keep going and eventually they with say “Well yes”.
I am going to assume that if you are reading my blog, then you are interested in weight loss tips and techniques, one of the principal things you must master is your new identity. My principal new identity is “I want to live a healthier life, by losing weight and exercising”.
How have I achieved this? Here are some things I have done to change my identity, Firstly I changed my diet, to a ketogenic diet, well that takes some research and effort, but there are things I do to reaffirm my status as a person in ketosis. Firstly I never buy any products without reading the label, it’s a small habit that will help you keep losing weight, I try to keep my carbs under 20 grams a day, so the habit is always read the label, there are hidden carbs in the world waiting to trip you up and kick you out of ketosis, one example I can recall is, One day at work, I got a touch of indigestion, which is very rare for me, however in the past I have always just sucked a mint and it has gone away, So off to a garage, and I bought a packet of SUGAR FREE Smint’s. Now Smint’s have the smallest writing in the world on the packaging, so I returned to my car and enlarged the text with my iPhone, 97 grams of carbs per 100g, that a whole gram of carbs per tiny Smint. That’s ridiculous to someone in ketosis, let’s compare one tiny Smint has the same carb content of 10 slices of cooked bacon. So, beware of hidden carbs and affirm your new identity by always turning the product over.
Over to my identity as a person who works out. In order to affirm my identity, I have done several things, the first is I track all my workouts, every tiny detail is recorded. (See blog post on my love of apples and tracking).
Why track everything, because my watch motivates me and reminds me of my new identity, it says things like “Hey Shorty, you have closed your exercise rings for 57 days now”. Or “Longest jump rope streak ever, 54 days continuously”. This helps me to be a keep fit person, I won’t break the run now, I have done 57 days hard work, I don’t want to lose my streak.
The second thing I did, is changed what I wore to work out, I went on an absolute splurge of buying compression shorts, Nike Pro-combat, Skins, and various others. I always wear compression shorts to work out. Why? Because it’s what an athlete would wear to work out, it’s an identity, it makes me feel like a serious athlete even though I know I am not, I am still a fat bloke trying to get fit. However, the second I put my compression shorts on, I know it’s time to work out, I do my work out, I never miss, simply from putting on a pair of shorts!
Clothing matters in identity, try dressing as a nun for an entire day, I can guarantee that by the end of the day, you will walk slower, swear less and you will take on the personality of a nun, So if you want to identify as a person who works out, buy the garb, become that identity (btw, I do have a picture of me being a nun for a day, if you ask nicely in the comments I might post it).
My final tip on changing your identity is to tell people. Tell anyone who will listen, say things like, I never miss a workout, or I always wear compression shorts to work out, I will reaffirm your identity to yourself, not to them, they probably don’t care, however the more times you tell people you have changed, you will change. The constant repetition of a habit is an identity.
You are responsible for your own identity, and you have the ability to change your identity, small, tiny changes that add up to a new identity. I don’t run a marathon every day, but I do work out every day, it’s a relatively easy work out (rule 3 make it easy). That in turn makes me a person who never misses a workout, that pleases me, I beam with internal happiness when an unwitting shopkeeper asks me how I lost my weight.
You can too!
Let technology motivate you
Let it confirm your new identity.