As a career coach and counselor, it's easy for me to talk with someone, hear their story, and pick out themes about what is going on with them, then work with them on setting goals and creating solutions to address their needs.
It's SO much harder to do this for myself. I admit it. I could really use some better habits in 2021. I'm thinking about working on my writing, reading more, getting up earlier, doing more strength training and working on my balance and core, to name a few.
When I went out for my walk this afternoon, I chose to listen to the podcast, "Disrupt Yourself" by Whitney Johnson, Episode 190 with James Clear: Atomic Habits. I made it to 20 minutes before I was struck by the realization that I need to read this book that had been on my to-do list for over a year. Why was I continuously putting it off?
James talks about the habits he formed about writing and the fact that he didn't identify as a writer for a long time, and getting to the place of finally realizing he was doing the thing:
"...and eventually, I don't know when exactly, but I crossed some kind of invisible threshold and it was like oh, I keep casting these votes for being a writer, I guess maybe that's who I am. And this is the way that I like to think about how habits and identify influence each other, which is that every action you take is like a vote for the kind of person that you want to become."
He continues: "Every action you take is like a vote for the type of person that you want to become or the type of person that you believe you are, so the more that you perform these little habits, whether it's reading one page or writing one sentence or meditating for 60 seconds, the more you reinforce, you provide evidence, and cast a vote for that identity of being a reader, or a writer or being a meditator."
Today, I'm casting my vote for writing more, and reading more. Here's my writing. I did it today.
Have you read Atomic Habits? What was your takeaway? I'd love to hear!