Identity-Affirming Habits

Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“What habits do you track?”

“In Superhuman by Habit, Tynan makes a distinction between new habits and old habits. 

All habits start as new habits. Starting a habit is the most energy-intensive part of the process. Through daily consistency, new habits progressively take less and less energy to maintain, until, eventually, they reach a point where the maintenance energy reaches zero.

An old habit is a habit that has become effortless. An old habit has become identity.

A new habit is something you do.
An old habit is something you are.

I see identity as a modular structure. I call the elements that make up your identity, identity-blocks. Identity-blocks, big and small, compound in making you who you are.

I track most habits temporarily. That is, I track new habits until they become old habits.

A select few habits, however, I want to track forever: the highest-leverage habits, and those corresponding to the most powerful identity-blocks. These are my non-negociables. I call them identity-afirming habits.”

“So they’re also reminders.”

“Indeed.”

“Which are your current identity-affirming habits?”

“Meditation

Writing (Playing with ideas)

Movement (Daily walk(s), Parkour, Perpetual Motion Machine [<link; very short read])

Non-Zero Progress [<link; very short read] – No day without progress towards my most important goals. 

Cold Shower“

“Which of them has the longest streak?”

“Writing and cold shower: they’re both 651 days old.”

“Which is the oldest, and which is the youngest?”

“The oldest is meditation. Currently, it’s 395 days old, because I missed a day and I started back from zero.

The newest is non-zero progress. Currently, it’s 28 days young.”