To Change Yourself Quicker, Try Writing an “Identity Manifesto”
By: Akshad Singi
Tags: Self Improvement, Life Lessons, Self, Advice, Psychology

Write an Identity Manifesto

Understanding the concept of identity change, I decided to write my own identity manifesto. For instance, in my desire to be athletically fit, I formed the following identities —

I’m the kind of guy who does not use elevators. I like taking the stairs.

I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t miss workouts.

I’m the kind of guy who does not eat sugar or fried food except for once a week.

In my desire to have a better relationship with my girlfriend, I formed the following identities —

I don’t use the words ‘never’ and ‘always’ when I’m in a fight. This is because relationship psychologists suggest avoiding using such extreme words in a fight.

I don’t take arguments to bed, and I wake up with a fresh perspective.

And I know those examples sound self-centred. But that is the point. You need to attach these identities to your ego so much so that even the thought of breaking those identities hurts your ego. Since I formed these identities, I’ve really changed as a person.

Here’s how you can write your own identity manifesto as well. You can do it digitally or even in your journal. But since it’s going to be something you’re going to keep adding to, you should do it digitally.

Form Categories

Categories will help you keep it organised. Form categories like —

Fitness

Career

Relationship

Financial Life, etc.

Form Reinforcable Habit-Focused Identities

Don’t form identities that are abstract and are hard to reinforce. For instance, — “I’m a guy who is financially wise.” This identity doesn’t tell you exactly what to do and is hence hard to reinforce.

On the other hand, a habit-focused identity like, “I’m the kind of guy who invests 20% of my earnings every single month without fail.” directly tells you what to do and hence is enforceable.

Protect Your Identity in Decisive Moments

Say amazon sends you a notification recommending you to buy the latest Macbook. And you’ve just received your salary as well. You could buy the Mac, but it would prevent you from investing 20% of your salary. What do you do?

Both the external world and your internal desire for instant gratification will want you to break your identity. But don’t let that happen. If you break your identity once, it becomes easier to break it again, forming a vicious circle. Protect your identity from the world and yourself.

Know When It’s Okay to Break Identities

I don’t miss workouts out of laziness. But if my body tells me that it needs a break, I listen to my body. Life’s not perfect. You won’t be able to keep up with your identities always. For instance, you may not be able to invest in the month you get unforeseen medical bills. Learn to recognise the situations when it’s okay to break your identities. And don’t beat yourself up over it.

Keep Adding Identities

As you keep learning, you’ll find other habits to help you grow in particular areas of life. Instead of just trying to follow those habits, add them to your existing identity manifesto and become that person. Instead of trying to do, decide to be.

Keep Revisiting

Life is chaotic. Humans are lazy. With time, your external environment, in collaboration with your weak reptile brain, will weaken your desired position. So keep revisiting your identities to remind yourself of not who you want to be, but who you already are. Then, recalibrate your actions to your identity.