You and I are about to welcome another year with a collection of our choices from the last one.

So let me guess, you’re going to cut all the toxic people out of your life, go to the gym, make more money, and focus on you in 22, right? 

How novel!

Before you launch into the new year, do you have the one thing needed to jump start your January?

Stop and ask yourself right now: “Who do I want to become this year?”  

In other words, our identity will determine our choices and our behaviors.

Identity=Desire

How you and I see ourselves is more than the image in the mirror.  It’s the strong feeling to have something different or want something to happen.  I have a saying hanging in my office, “We don’t get what we wish for, but what we work for.”  

Check out the book Atomic Habits by James Clear for more insight on identity and behavior change.

Identity=Direction 

Without a clear direction, you are I were wandering and wondering why nothing is changing.  Our words need action.  Faith has works.  Belief drives behaviors.  We can behave our way into a new way of thinking. 

Ryan Holiday’s podcast, The Daily Stoic, addresses putting off making changes with a call for all of us to stop waiting to demand the best for ourselves.  Check out episode, Stop Waiting to Demand the Best for Yourself, December 30, 2021. 

Identity=Determination

You and I know motivation can be difficult, but not impossible. Consult frequently with future self and avoid the sabotage of present self.  

Imagine for a moment the difference one week would make if you made your decisions out of identity, not impulse?  What about 3 months?  What about this time next year?

Imagine asking:  What will be my physical identity?  My mental? My emotional? My spiritual? 

Are you ready to jump start your January?