I couldn’t quit smoking until I convinced myself that smoking was for losers.
Wasn’t enough to “want” to quit. I had to actively disdain it in an over the top way.
After the identity-belief changed, the rest was (relatively) easy.
Nathan Baschezx.comI couldn’t quit smoking until I convinced myself that smoking was for losers. Wasn’t enough to “want” to quit. I had to actively disdain it in an over the top way. After the identity-belief changed, the rest was (relatively) easy.
The second person declines by saying, “No thanks. I’m not a smoker.” It’s a small difference, but this statement signals a shift in identity. Smoking was part of their former life, not their current one. They no longer identify as someone who smokes.
James Clear • Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller
Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.
James Clear • Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
One possible explanation for this is that smoking is not so much an addiction as a habit: that after a few years of smoking, it is the associations, actions and mannerisms we crave more than the drug itself. Hence, if you have not been addicted to smoking cigarettes, e-cigs simply don’t hit the spot, just as those of us who have never been heroin a
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