I recently started rereading Atomic Habits, and in the first chapter, the author explained why most people aren’t consistent with their desired behaviors.
He wrote that most of the time, people attempt to change their behavior without first becoming the person.
For instance, consider healthy eating.
When offered something unhealthy to eat, the person focused on the behavior might say, “No thanks, I’m trying to lose weight”.
On the other hand, the person who has become the person first might say, “No thanks, I don’t eat that”.
This shows that changing who you are goes deeper than changing what you do. It’s targeting the root instead of the fruit.
Psalms 1 teaches this too.
The first part speaks of the type of person who meditates on God’s Word while not being counselled by the ungodly.
Verse 3 continues, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers” (NIV).
In that analogy, being the type of person comes first, and the fruit, like a tree, comes naturally from being it.
It’s also the idea behind being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
And, guarding your heart, because “everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
So what’s the takeaway?
In your efforts to do all the good things you desire, focus on becoming the person first.
The Wise Believer understands that once the identity is fixed, the behavior will follow.
