If there is some kind of habit that I am most proud of myself, it is never stop reading and upgrading myself. When people have to set target to read X books per month or per year, I find the idea very alien to me. Because reading is like the most natural activity for me.
I couldn’t articulate why..
Until lately I learn a “mental model” from the book The Atomic habit where the author explains the difference between Identity, System and Outcome.
Let me try to explain it in a simple way
The outcome is to read more books, or to enjoy the act of reading, or to become more knowledgeable. We all start out with some outcomes, they vary .
To get the outcome, some set the goal to read X books per year, or to spend Y hours to read every day or everweek. This is called the System
They hope that with the system in place, they will get there. Which is very true.Another higher level to get the outcome (be knowledgeable, enjoy the reading..) is to BE A READER.
Now the person’s identity is a reader, they no longer needs a system in place to remind them that they need to read a book. Because the act of reading is in their own identity.Now do you see the difference?
The highest level of motivation is internal /intrinsic motivation and that comes from within, not without.
And the Ultimate order is BE-> ACT, not ACT-> BE.
And that’s why many wealthy millionaires, after they got bankrupt, can still find themselves standing up again and making huge money again. Because they have the identity of a millionaire/ businessman
Thats why a person who won the lottery may struggle to keep up with the new wealth, because he doesn’t have the identity and even the system in place to manage the huge amount of wealth he is on top.
The old identity (poor) still controls his behaviors.
Thats why changing the identity is most sustainable for changing the behaviours and ensure best outcome, but it’s also the hardest.
Because they can teach you tactics to help a good system in place, but to change your identity, you have to do the inner work and start from you.
I don’t know whether I adopt the identity of a reader or it’s innate, but it’s always there, and I’m so thankful for that. Because I just realize that most of my knowledge, my perception, my mindset were not coming from schools or mentors, they come from books (plus experience).
Books give me the plethora of mental models that after years I can start to piece things together and make sense of many questions I had when I was younger.(and of course not every book is created equal).
You know, it’s not only the experiences that count. Experience needs to come with enough reflection and intelligence to create mental models that count. Otherwise, experience is no more than doing the same task a million time, and I guess it doesn’t add up to much.
The Almanack of Naval is full of mental models and gems that I want to share with you. It is too good that I only want to read a few pages per day so I wont finish it too soon.
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