Micro-Transformation: New Year’s Identities 📝

I think most people don’t manage to stick to their new year’s resolutions because of implicit “identity declarations”. Sometimes these are straightforward—”I am undeserving”—and sometimes they’re more nuanced—”I am safe from unwanted attention with this appearance I don’t like (too skinny, too heavy, etc)”. We don’t even realize we’re making them, so we don’t recognize the army of unconscious forces working to maintain our “I am”, against our new year’s goals.

If there’s something you want for the year ahead, try on the identity of someone who already has it. Look and see if there’s anything uncomfortable, some sense of something you’ll have to give up. Maybe it's true that you'll have to give something up, in which case you get to make a more conscious decision and let go of something. Or maybe the idea you have to give something up is outdated.

With love, Jordan