Episode 159 A+A Podcast: Next-Level Identity Habits: The Small Daily Shifts That Unlock Your Growth

Next-Level Identity Habits: The Small Daily Shifts That Unlock Your Growth

Today we're talking about the small habit shifts that add up to BIG impact. In this episode, I guide you through a powerful process to align your daily habits with your biggest business goals - whilst also prioritising your health and relationships. We get very practical in this episode so you can go ahead and create those new habits that support your next-level success NOW.

You'll want a copy of the Identity + Habits worksheet + visualisation that goes with this episode: http://alignandattract.com/identity

We discuss:
 ✔️ Why linking your habits to your identity works so effectively
 ✔️ Four powerful ways to make new habits stick
 ✔️ Your new success habits for business, health, and relationships
 ✔️ Simple morning, workday, and evening routines to shift your energy and focus
 ✔️ A challenge to start embodying your next-level habits today

This isn’t about doing more. It’s about working smarter, with alignment and intention. Listen now to start stepping into the identity—and habits—of your next-level self.

Today's episode links to last week's Identity episode: http://alignandattract.com/blog/158

Get your worksheet + guided visualisation to support this episode here: http://alignandattract.com/identity

Check out my Mastermind here: http://alignandattract.com/mastermind

Share your takeaways with me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/kerryrowett

Transcript

Your next level identity habits, the small daily shifts that unlock your growth. Welcome back to Align and Attract. In our last episode, we explored identity shifts, who you need to become to achieve your biggest goals.

Today we're focusing on identity habits, those small daily actions that shape your success, your energy and your alignment. I do have a resource for you that goes along with this episode. It is a worksheet and a guided visualization where I am helping you to tune in to your next level identity.

And habits. I extracted this visualization from a mastermind call. It was so brilliant that I wanted to share it with you as well. You can get both of those resources by signing up at alignandattract.com/identity. And As we kick off here, I want you to think about the impact that just one habit change can have in your life.

So in our previous mastermind call a few months ago, as a part of what we did, we decided on a specific Habit change that we would introduce something that we would start doing or something that we would stop doing with the intention and understanding that this habit change had the power. To have a ripple effect across so many different areas of our life, even if we couldn't quite see how at that point in time.

And the habit change I settled on was that I wasn't going to work at night anymore. I never used to work at night, but it did creep in quite a lot last year. And I had more demands, more on my plate, more projects I was working on. And then I was still finding that occasionally I was doing that this year.

And what that meant was I wasn't sleeping as well those nights that I did that for obvious reasons. And I also realized that I was so much less efficient in my mornings because I wasn't getting great sleep. So it was. Compounding because I would then feel like, Oh, if I just do this one thing, I'll be able to complete that and make tomorrow better rather than realizing if I just stop and have my evening completely off.

I will sleep better. I'll wake up better. I will feel clearer and more focused and as a result of this habit change, I then realized Oh, I need to feel clearer about exactly how I'm starting my day and what it is that I'm focusing on in that work day. It made me realize that I was starting the day feeling a little bit disorganized and taking some time to warm up.

And so it did have this beautiful flow on effect and I realized I can't drift into my day drift into my morning because I can't make it up anymore in my evenings. So that's. An example of how one habit change rippled for me. I can't wait to hear the habit changes that you are going to lean into.

You're going to explore and the ripple effect that is going to flow on from that for you. So what you can expect in today's episode, we're going to be looking at the psychology behind identity based habits. How to create success habits for your business, your health and relationships, because I know you've got a business, but for all of the women that I work with, health is really important.

Wellness is really important. We're all looking to optimize our energy and obviously to avoid burnout and our relationships are really important too. So that's your relationship with your husband or your partner or. Close friendships in your life, your family, and so on. And we're looking at how we can create habits in these areas so that we are really aligned with what it is that we value.

in each of these spaces. And we're also going to be looking at like these key times of the day where I see that my clients can sometimes really benefit from bringing in an intentional habit to help them to either start the day, shift into work mode, complete the work day and shift into life mode or their bedtime.

So it's going to be a really action packed, practical episode. I know that you are going to love it. It's really going to get you thinking. And I really think it's going to get you making some key changes as well. And these key changes can be the little things that make a really big difference over time when they become embedded as a habit in your life.

So let's start out by looking at the psychology of identity based habits. So research says that linking habits to your identity really works because if you see yourself In a particular way or as a particular type of person, it is so much easier to make decisions and to take actions that reflect that.

And so we want to really shift into that mode that I'm the type of person who, rather than I'm trying. to go to the gym or I'm trying to get more organized. And I can share a really great example of how this has looked for me. This is a health based habit that I introduced, which was about four years ago.

And so I used to be the kind of fit and healthy person who always exercised. And I could be really spontaneous around that. I could mix things up. So I'd have a yoga era. Then I went through a running era. This was all pre kids obviously. And then after kids, I had no time.

I just couldn't be spontaneous like that because obviously the kids need to be taken care of. And then mornings, afternoons, evenings, all of these periods of time were really taken up by things that had to happen in our life. And what I needed to do was to like reconnect to this identity of being this very fit and healthy person, but I needed to do it in an entirely new way.

And this did involve shifting some aspects of my identity because I didn't really like structure. I didn't like being locked into things. I did being spontaneous. But now. I became the kind of person who was fit because I did the same thing every single week and I had a routine and that routine was I went to the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6am.

Another aspect of my identity that's really challenged was I'm not a morning person. I've never liked getting up early. And I realized if I want to go to the gym, this is the only time that I can do it. And so I need to become a morning person. And even if I don't feel like I'm a morning person, I'm the type of person who goes to the gym in the morning because that's the only time I can go.

And so I have been going to the gym three times a week now for Years, and I knew at that time like I did wanna become fitter. I wanted to become healthier, but again, linked to the identity, it's if I go to the gym three times a week for months or years, I am going to become a fit person. So I really linked it into the habit and the identity.

And so let's have a look at how to make creating new habits easier. And there are four different ways that I'm seeing that we are able to do this along with the identity piece, which is obviously key. Number one, Creating a social or a relationship element to the habit.

Number two, habit stacking. I'm sure you've heard of this concept before. James Clear talks about this. Number three, linking a habit to some kind of reward. Number four, making it harder. to do a bad habit and making it easier to do a good habit. I'll go into that obviously as well. So let's start out by looking at number one, adding a social or a relationship element to a habit that you want to introduce, something that you want to do regularly.

This might look like doing something with someone else. So you and your partner might take up a new habit together. And so you're then talking about it, you're optimizing it, perhaps you're experimenting with it. You are noticing if they. Are doing it. If they're not doing it, likewise, they're doing the same with you.

And that's got this really positive aspect to it that we are the type of couple so they can hear. There's an identity piece there as well. I did also do this with the gym. I had a friend who lived across the road at the time. Who decided to come to the gym with me. And so then we were both going to the gym three times a week.

And so then there was this additional layer that we were getting this social benefit. It was really a beautiful for our friendship, but there was also this accountability aspect. So this is another link in with the social. relationship element where we are creating accountability with others. So in my mastermind people do this, they use the group chat channel to create accountability around their to do list or around something they're wanting to create or to achieve.

You can have an accountability buddy. You can embark on a challenge with a buddy or, of course, this can happen in the health arena, within a Pilates studio, within a gym. Challenges are a really common way that, I guess these spaces are utilizing this social aspect

you embark on a particular type of challenge. We're going to do something for 21 days, for 30 days, and We can have a competitive aspect to that. We can have a collaborative aspect to that. Whatever feels really good for us. And you can work towards a goal together. Perhaps it's that you're going to take, a really long walk or you're going to participate in some kind of event and then in the business, you can take that same approach that we are accountability buddies.

We are sharing about our wins. We are sharing about what we are achieving, what we are doing, the steps that we are taking and so on. If we can bring in the habits and really be celebrating that as a part of that accountability and really valuing that, that's going to have a really positive long term benefit.

I've seen this on apps and I am leaning into the health examples right now. The Strava app, it's a cycling app. You can see what other people are doing. Not that I'm a cyclist, but I have heard cyclists talk about this. The FitOn app, you can link up with friends and you can know what they are doing.

Your friend did a workout today. Sometimes you might find that motivating or not, but either different ways that you can build in a social and a relationship aspect, whether it's in person or whether it is online or via an app and so on. Number two, habit stacking. And so this is where we're adding a habit to something else that we already do, or we're linking it to a time of day.

And so that could be, you get up, you might brush your teeth. Whilst you're brushing your teeth, you are to affirmations. It could be you go into your kitchen, you pour yourself a glass of water, then you have your psyllium and apple cider vinegar. That's something I have been doing. I introduced it as a habit.

And then you might go outside for your natural light. That's supposed to really help with your circadian rhythm. That is something I have also been doing. Stack one habit on top of the other. They're really small habits often in these instances, but you're linking it to something that you already do.

And so there is a trigger to remind you that this is when you do that. And then over time, it's just what you do. It's not like it's this habit, then that habit, it's all bundled in together within your brain. So you might like to think what's a habit? I could link in to something else that I'm already doing.

You sit down at your desk and then you do what? You might. Meditate for one minute. I have heard, Tina Tower talk about the fact that when she starts her work day, she walks into her office and she, will often do a face to camera video. And there's her social media content, there's her connection with her audience, and it's linked into starting her day in that way, walking into her.

And the third thing that you can do to really support you with creating a new habit is you can link a habit to some kind of reward. And this is particularly effective when the habit is something that you don't really love to do. You know it's beneficial, but it's related to the habit stacking as well.

It's just adding this reward aspect on so that You get some pleasure about having completed that habit. So for me, at the moment I have actually joined a new gym because I had moved gyms and then I wasn't doing it with my friend and now I've decided that is actually really important to me. So I'm going to a gym where there are already people going who I know and it's a bit closer to where other friends of mine live.

As a reward aspect afterwards, I am often getting a coffee and sometimes when I'm starting the workout and you don't always feel like doing it, early in the morning, but I'll remind myself you can have a coffee afterwards and I can find that quiet. motivating. We can do this in business, obviously, as well.

And so you might batch certain tasks that you don't really like doing. That could be things like your bookkeeping or responding to certain kinds of emails that just feel a little bit tedious, a bit more just things you need to tick off.

And you might do all of those tasks at a particular time each week. And you might decide I'm giving myself a reward after doing that type of task. And that could be after doing that. I go for a walk, or I dance, or I have a treat of some kind. I have a certain type of drink, whatever it might be. So think about how can I create an element of reward?

That reward does not have to be, of course, anything that's unhealthy or that takes you away from doing your actual work. It can be quite brief, it could even be I'm allowing myself to scroll for 10 minutes. If that's something that you actually sometimes like to do, but you feel bad about it, or you think you shouldn't be doing it, it could be your reward, but you just put a timer around it and you let yourself indulge in that way.

And you are then totally fine about it. The fourth thing you can do to make. embedding habits so much easier is make it harder to do your more negative habits and easier to do the positive habits. So what do here? So let's just say you've got a habit like you are. on your phone before bed. You're scrolling before bed and maybe you feel like your resistance is really down at that time of day.

Maybe you know, I'm just seeking dopamine, but it's really hard to stop myself. And so if your phone is in another room, It's going to make it harder if you have to go find it and then if you think like I'll probably just go and get it because my resistance is pretty low and my capacity to just decide I'm not going to do that is just really not there.

You might ask your partner to hide your phone like you can be a little bit creative, but how can you make it harder? So this is often going to be by putting things. in a physical location where you cannot see them, where it just makes it harder to engage in whatever that habit is. Another example would be, oh, I eat chocolate at this time of day as a kind of like dopamine hit.

Let's just say, and then you might decide I'm actually just not going to keep chocolate in the house. So if I want to have chocolate, I always have to go out like that's another example of making it harder. So you're going to be discerning the habit changes that you want to make.

And it's not really about saying this is really bad and this is really good and trying to be perfect or any of that. Now, when we're talking about making good habits easier, that is things like putting your clothes out for a morning workout so that you don't have to think in the morning. It's all ready to go.

This can be things like meal prep in advance. If you are somebody who finds it tricky to make a really great lunch for yourself, having prepared something in advance that can really help.

How can I make doing the good habits? easier. And now let's go a step further and have a look at the specific kinds of habits we might want to bring into our business and for health. And our relationships. And then we're going to look at habits linked to specific times of the day. Now this is on your worksheet.

And so what I would love you to do is listen now, or if you're at your desk, you can always open up the worksheet and type straight into the worksheet. But if you are out on a walk or it's not convenient to be writing these down now, just Open up the worksheet later and write down what you decide, then put it onto your worksheet so that you've got it in writing so that you can revisit it.

So number one, success habits for your business. What kind of habits would the next level version of you have in your business? What are some examples of habits that you might choose to introduce?

Oftentimes these habits are swirling around you and you just need to make a decision to actually do it, to prioritize it. Sometimes there might be something good standing in your way and then of course we want to address that. But in the first instance, let's name these habits that we know.

Examples could be planning your week in advance. I hear from my mastermind clients quite often that they can start the week and feel a bit adrift or a little bit lost or confused. What am I focusing on this week? How am I going to get into the week? And what can help in this instance is to instead think about this.

in the previous week and have a bit of a structure moving into the week so you know what it is that you're focusing on. Another example of a habit to introduce could be having a clear start and end time for work. Many entrepreneurs at some point in their journey, and it's often earlier on and then it might creep in later, just like I shared last year, you might, at some point you might have clarity around this and you do start at a clear time and you do end at a clear time.

But along the way you might drift and that might look like waking up and checking your phone, replying to emails or replying to messages and then drifting into your day and yes, you're preparing for your day or you're preparing your kids for the day, but you're half on your phone or you're half replying to something on your computer And things can become really blurred, and the same thing can happen at the end of the day.

I'll just do this one more email. I'll just do this one more thing. Now, if that is happening for you, and that is working for you, that is entirely your prerogative. But if you can feel like that is happening for you, and you don't want it to happen, This could be a great habit to introduce actually making that decision about what time do you start and what time do you want to end and sometimes what I'll find is people will say I guess I should do X, Y, Z, and I will often challenge that because we did get into business to have choice and different people do have different times of the day where they feel more optimal.

They feel clearer. And so please don't worry if you decide your time. for me. is really early, earlier than you perhaps think it should be, even though sometimes starting early can be quite glorified actually. Or if your end time is later than what you in inverted commas think it should be, just own it, but still have the clarity around that.

It's if the time is 8 PM Don't let it creep to 9 p. m. or 10 p. m. Make sure that is a hard finish for you. And for some of us that wouldn't really make sense. And in fact, that end time really does need to be earlier.

I was talking to somebody the other day and she said that she has stopped emailing this particular person at all hours of the night because they'll often reply straight away, no matter what the time might be so she said. I've learned that I need to do that during the day because I don't want them doing that.

But ideally, like we want to be managing those habits for ourselves, right? And not seeing it as a positive thing if we are ultra available. Another habit you could introduce. would be reviewing your finances weekly so that you know exactly where you're at, perhaps doing your bookkeeping or looking at your bookkeeping if you hire someone to do that for you so that you can just feel really connected to what's going on in the business in your money space.

And then also another habit could be spending focused time on income generating activities first. in the day. These are all examples and I would love to know what is the simple habit that you would like to start. So one simple business habit you would like to start or indeed stop. And you're going to be recording that on your worksheet when you have the chance.

Now, let's move on to success habits for your health. Our energy is our business's foundation. If you are the face of your business, if you are the primary person who is delivering your services, and that can be one to one, it can be to groups, it can be in person, it can be online, but if you are the person who is showing up and delivering, who is marketing, who is all over your social media, then we really want to value our energy because we know the way that we fuel our body does really impact on our clarity, our decision making, and our ability to attract aligned clients.

So I'd love you to start to think about the kinds of success habits you would like to introduce for your health. Examples, drinking a full glass of water, fasting, in the morning. So many people are chronically dehydrated. You're going to wake up, probably feeling thirsty. Why not just tick this off first thing?

Another habit could be walking daily, or it could be movement breaks. And I have heard that it can be so much better to actually have a number of short movement breaks across a day than sitting all day. More movement tends to be better.

So this could be a habit you introduce. Another habit could be prepping your lunch in the morning. So you don't have decision fatigue at lunchtime or making something on the weekend. When I do this, I find that lunches are so much easier for me. I will often make a vegetable slice, change it up in terms of the vegetables that are in the slice and it has cheese and so on in it.

And then if I've got that in the fridge, I know that I can heat that up for my lunch. I can have it with some salad and that's decision fatigue solved. I can just do that and move on with my day. Another habit could be setting a cutoff time for screens in the evening with a view to improving your sleep.

And so I wonder, for you, what health habit is coming to mind? Is it something around nutrition? Is it around sleep? Is it around movement? Is it around meditation? What health habit would you like to introduce and make a decision around that? Write it down on the worksheet and let's get that started. Next, let's look at success habits for relationships.

I find that for some of my clients, yes, their relationships are a very high priority when we're talking about success, when we're talking about our big picture goals. Relationships are often such a core part of that bigger picture and what they really desire to be optimized.

But I can also find that sometimes people can get really busy, get a bit distracted and they may not be prioritizing or nourishing their relationships as much as they would like, or in ways that are really aligned with that bigger picture. Goal. And so here we're looking at time with your partner.

Time with friends, both business friends, and then also friends in your local community where you live or friends that you've connected with online can be part of this as well. And also like time with your family can be a big part of this as well. And how present you are when you are with your family, especially when you're making that switch from your work day.

to, shifting into that mode when now I'm with my family. Example habits that we could be introducing here could be. scheduling a monthly friend dinner or a coffee so that is something that is in your calendar. You don't need to be continually thinking about when am I going to catch up with this group of friends next?

It could be that it just happens because you have a set monthly date. Or when you catch up, you're the person who says, let's get out of calendars. Let's make the next date. It could be setting clear time boundaries with loved ones. So you might decide when I finish my work, I'm going to be present again.

This might mean I closed down my laptop. It is in a different room. And if need be, perhaps my phone is in a different room as well, or. What else needs to happen so that you can be more present if That is something that you feel like you would really benefit from. Another example would be regularly engaging with business connections.

So I know for some of my friendship groups that I have through the business, I will arrange to go and see them. I'll go and retreat with them. I will go to a conference that they know that a bunch of my friends are going to be at. And that is one of the ways that I will sustain. And so the habit is actually just the booking.

The thing that's going to mean that we have that connection. And then that supports the habit of being in touch because we've got that ongoing purpose because we know, Oh, I'm going to see you again in this period of time rather than having this relationship or connection, but it can drift off because we have other things going on in our life as well.

Another example would be, the classic monthly date night or regular date night. So record down what you would like to introduce that you think could be really nourishing for you, something that feels meaningful and impactful.

Now, we're going to have a look at structuring your daily routine for success. And the way that you start, flow through and end your day can just make such a difference as to whether you feel scattered or strategic. So let's map out your next level routine. This is on your worksheet, so I could just leave you to it at this point, but I want A little bit of inspiration, some ideas about what it is that you could be doing to really optimize these routines in ways that feel really easy, natural, but are also going to be very impactful for you.

So our morning habit routines, this is upon waking and morning. One thing we've already spoken about, drinking water. immediately upon waking, moving your body, setting your energy up with meditation, journaling, pulling a card of some kind. And it could also be planning your one most important business task.

Before you check your phone. And this could be an example of something you stop doing in the morning. That you don't reach for your phone until a particular time. Even if it's only 15 minutes after you get up. It's just not the first thing that you do. You don't start the day by scrolling and looking at other people's thoughts and ideas.

Instead you're checking in with yourself first. What is one morning habit? It could set you up for success and you can hear it could be health related, it could be business related, but what would you love to do upon waking? It could really make a difference. Now thinking about starting work for the day.

How do you feel about flowing into your work day? And if you feel like you could benefit from a ritual that could support you here, examples of what that could look like are like tuning in with yourself first before diving into tasks.

It doesn't have to take a lot of time. It could be writing down or reviewing your top three priorities or your top priority. Before you get to your emails or something else that can sometimes distract you or take your time. It could be starting with creative work instead of admin. So I'd love you to think about what is one habit you could introduce.

That could have you feeling more focused as you kick off your work day, knowing that there's so many of us starting your work day just means you move to a different room or you open your laptop. So that's why these habits can be so helpful for those of us who might actually be spending. The entire day in our own homes.

Of course, we might be leaving for different reasons across the day, but essentially we're waking up here, we're eating here, we're working here, and then we're closing out the day here. And so that is why I think this is so important for people like us. Next, end of work rituals. There are some examples of habits that you could introduce to finish up your day.

It could be you choose a particular song that is your end of workday song. So you play it, perhaps you sing along or you dance and for you, that is the end of the day. And that signals to you, I'm going to close my laptop now, complete. It could be that you write down tomorrow's top priorities before you log off the day.

It could be that you close out your emails and Slack or whatever tools that you're using at a particular time. So what would you like to do here? What is a clear transition that you would like to create?

Finally, our evening and bedtime routines. Examples of what you could introduce here, like no screens, a certain amount of time before bed, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever you decide. We know this improves our sleep and our mental clarity. So just making a decision if that's something you'd like to look at or you're not doing that already.

You could journal about what went well that day. It could be your gratitude practice or it could just be a reflective practice. You might do some meditation or breath work to help you to shift into deep rest. Breath work is something that I do every night as I'm falling to sleep. I find it really helpful.

And so what is one evening habit that could help you to feel calmer and more refreshed? Beautiful. And so now as we finish up, we have covered off. So many different things. I know it was a lot, but I also know you can come back to this episode and allow yourself to continue to reflect and receive from everything that we have been talking about and sharing here.

There's so much inspiration. that you can gather up from this episode. And of course, I don't want this to become like this really heavy thing where it's like, Oh my gosh, I'm going to be introducing all of these new habits. If that does start to come up for you, you might just decide on one habit overall much like I shared at the start when I said in that mastermind call, we chose one habit and we decided this habit is going to have a flow on effect. It's going to ripple out and it's going to help me to make other changes in my business and in my life.

So please let this be light for you. Let this be free. fun. This is just an opportunity to think about what else could I do, particularly in support of that next level version of myself and what she's created, what she has achieved, and who it is that she is.

I can support her by bringing in these additional habits that mean she's got better energy. Her relationships are stronger than ever. And I've been taking those actions within my business that make things easier and better for her. So what I'd like you to do just as we wrap up is close your eyes just for a moment and just visualize that next level version of you, the version of you who has achieved her goals six months from now, 12 months from now,

and see her doing these various different habits that you have decided matter. That you value and see her looking joyful, looking happy, looking healthy and connected. And now allow yourself to feel an embodied shift because you already are her. And these habits are going to allow you to become her now.

Pick one new habit to start. And just go from there. Don't forget to make sure you have your worksheet and that visualization. You're really going to enjoy it. It's going to build on what we've talked about today and in last week's episode so that you can really step into this vision of who it is that you are creating, who it is that you are becoming, and you can be her right now.

Now, thank you so much for being here. This was episode 1 5 9 of the Align and Attract Podcast, and that means you can find all of the relevant show notes over at alignandattract.com/blog/. And I have been adding the transcripts of these solo episodes there as well. So if you jump across, you can also read the episode.

If you are really loving these conversations around identity, habits. Big dreams, strategy, energetics. This is the work that we do in my mastermind, because what I see to be true is that for my clients who are growing into six figures or multi six figures, seven figures and beyond, this is the work that is required.

We are strategizing. We are looking at the energetics that are required to help you to step up, to show up in new ways, to step into new levels of visibility, to take those actions that you know are required, and to make really great decisions for yourself as well.

Every day inside my mastermind. And we have three group calls a month where we are looking at the energetics of our Achieving our goals. We are looking at the healing work that is required to let go of the past and to let go of some of those heavier emotions that can be holding us back, the fears that can come up as we are creating things that we haven't created before as we're becoming these new versions of ourselves and also the psychology and the mindset work that allows us to really step forward.

in and to become that person who is able to create exactly what we desire. If you are interested in taking a look at my mastermind, you can find all of the details at alignandattract.com/mastermind. Feel free to reach out to me on email or on Instagram Kerry Rowett, have a conversation about this experience and how it could support you to achieve your goals.

I'll see you next time.

Find the worksheet and guided visualisation here: alignandattract.com/identity. 

You can find my Mastermind here.

* This transcript is lightly edited for clarity, please excuse any errors!