Sometimes you just need motivation, but most of the time you need consequences

The first time I did a heavy squat, I nearly failed the rep. I was stuck a quarter up from the bottom for about two seconds. The only thought going through my mind was that if I failed, then the entire weight would fall on me. I finished the rep.

Motivation got me to the bar, but consequences made me finish.

Most of the behavioral changes that I try to implement for myself don't have the benefit of a heavy weight hanging over me if I fail. But the successful ones have something similar - a kind of weight that is attached to my identity. If I fail, I hurt my own sense of identity and that is something I don't allow easily. The unsuccessful ones, on the other hand, had nothing of the sort. I didn't bind them to my sense of self and thus produced no consequences for failure. When I failed, I didn't even notice.

Several psychological and philosophical concepts align with this idea of identity-driven motivation:

• Self-Verification Theory: People are motivated to maintain and confirm their existing self-views, even if those views are negative.
• Cognitive Dissonance: The mental discomfort we experience when our actions don't align with our beliefs or self-image drives us to either change our behavior or adjust our beliefs.
• Value Systems: Our core values become intertwined with our identity, creating internal pressure to act consistently with those values.
• Self-Consistency Theory: People strive to maintain consistency between their self-concept and their behavior.
• Identity-Based Habits: The idea that the most effective way to change behavior is to focus on who we wish to become rather than what we want to achieve.

These concepts all suggest that when we tie desired behaviors to our core identity, we create powerful internal motivators that are more effective than external rewards or punishments.