Your Practice Identity

So many of our habits are shaped by our identity. Practice included.

If you're "not the kind of person who sticks to a practice routine," then you're probably not going to practice the piano long enough to achieve fluency.

Or stick to a workout routine.

Or learn most new skills that aren't required for school.

Identities are malleable and changeable, though.

The challenge is that we're so deep in our current identity...the story we tell ourselves...we don't realize there could be a new story.

Here's an example. Let's say someone is trying to stop smoking. And someone offers that person a cigarette.

Person A says, "No thank you. I'm trying to quit."

Person B says, "No thank you. I don't smoke."

Similar answers, but with a subtle yet important difference. Person A still identifies as a smoker, just one who is trying to quit.

Person B no longer identifies as a smoker at all.

Which one do you think will succeed at quitting for good?

It's the same with anything you practice. You get to decide who you want to be. You get to decide what the kind of person you want to be would do.

So...who do you want to be?