I’ve noticed that whenever I made dramatic changes in my life all at once, the results were far better than if I tried slow, gradual change.
I can’t really explain the psychology behind it but it seems that the dramatic shift is in your mind at all time, and the idea of you making that big change is something that excites you.
Instead of barely remembering the one habit you were trying to replace, you are focused on a whole lifestyle shift.
You are actively sculpting your identity and on a minute-to-minute basis, you are constantly thinking about whether the actions you are committing are true to that identity.
Let me take an example of increasing hygiene.
Let’s say you are someone who takes a shower every few days, brushes once in a while, never cleans hair, or washes clothes.
If you tried you just fix the brushing habit and try to get to two times a day, that part of your lifestyle does not yet match your identity.
Slowly but surely, you will creep back into your old ways because you have not made the dramatic change that needs to happen within.
Instead, if you made a promise to yourself to take a shower every day, brush your teeth twice a day, shampoo/condition hair twice a week, and do laundry once a week, you are making the dramatic shifts necessary to craft your new identity.
All of these habits are now changing together, and it’ll be much easier to accomplish them all.
Not only are you now focused entirely on this identity-change, you are also constantly trying to morph every habit into one that now makes sense with who you are.
So instead of focusing on changing habits, try to change your identity instead.
BE the type of person that takes a shower every day, brushes your teeth twice a day, shampoos/conditions your hair twice a week, and does laundry once a week.