Your Habits Define Your Identity and Predict Your Future

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Your habits define your identity and predict your future.

New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear, says that your habits form your identity. And, Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, agrees with Randy Gage’s quote up there that your habits will determine your future.

So, today we’re asking, who are you, what does your future hold, and have you considered how your habits play a role in all of it?

I sat at my desk pondering this very sentiment; wondering when it was that I realized the impact of habits on my own life.

I couldn’t pinpoint it. The impact seems to have creeped in along the way; one habit at a time.

The impact of habits.

There was the time when I came to terms with the fact that caffeine was affecting my sleep; so I cut back to two cups per day and not after noon.

And the time I made the connection that my digestive tract (am I 80?) and my adult acne (or 14?) faired better when I consumed a consistent amount of water each day; so I started drinking 72 ounces daily.

And the time when I stopped kidding myself and acknowledged that falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV at night made me so groggy that I tended to wake up feeling equally groggy. So I started putting myself to bed by 10 pm each night – before the exhaustion set in.

And the time I was determined to lose the baby weight after #2 was born and saw results from exercising consistently a couple times per week.

And the time when I read about the benefits of putting gratitude on paper and tried it. It made me feel amazing and so I started a daily gratitude practice.

And the time when I figured out that I felt better if I gave myself a 12-hour break from food and committed to eating only between 7am and 7pm.

One by one, I acknowledged points of struggle in my life. I made a choice to limit those struggles by changing my behavior.

Up until then, I didn’t realize I wielded such power. I was a prisoner to my own limiting beliefs. And I thought of myself as someone who just “had bad skin,” “wasn’t a morning person,” “struggled to lose weight,” etc.

I didn’t actively think of these things in a self-deprecating, woe-is-me, sort of way, I just chalked it up to the hand I’d been dealt. “That’s life; it’s just who I am.” Right?

Wrong.

Changing my behavior freed me from my limiting beliefs.

It was empowering to realize that affecting change was 100% in my control. The gradual awareness allowed me to course-correct. I didn’t have to feel groggy or bloated or zitty or any of the other things. I opened my eyes to endless possibilities.

And while not all of life’s struggles can be resolved by changing our habits, I’ve learned from my own journey. I’ve learned controlling that which I can control sets me on a path to live my best life. This set of habits that have come to govern my life is my path to a brighter future. They define who I am and how I live.

A habit is defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

By that definition, it is easy to see why we fall into bad habits. And how hard they are to give up. However, we fail to see that if we’d do the work to adopt good habits, then those too become hard to give up.

The proven truth is that habits beget habits. That will lead to our growth (good habits) or our demise (bad habits).

At Grace in the Race, we practice 8 daily habits. These guide us to evolve into the best version of ourselves – with grace! They are based on a healthy balance of mental, physical and emotional wellbeing; a harmony which we believe is the foundation for personal growth (and momming like a champ).

Change begins with you – on your terms and your timeline.

Challenge your limiting beliefs and reframe your habits to bring out the best in yourself. Whether you try our 8 habits or come up with a set or your own, try one at a time. Just know that you now possess the knowledge and the power to form your identity. You will create your future through your habits.

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