The vocabulary

Concepts, defined

The language of the book, in one place. Each term links to a fuller explanation — a reference for readers and a map for the curious.

Identity-Based Change

A model of behaviour change that edits self-image first, on the premise that behaviour follows identity rather than the reverse.

The internal picture of who you are that silently determines which behaviours feel natural and which feel like 'not me.'

A six-stage protocol — Excavate, Name, Ground, Install, Neutralise, Embody — for installing a new identity step by step.

The self-reinforcing cycle in which identity drives behaviour, behaviour becomes evidence, and evidence strengthens identity.

A four-part framework — Clarity, Loops, Alignment, Resilience — for keeping identity-based change stable over time.

The tendency for effort-based self-control to run out precisely when demands are highest, causing discipline systems to fail on schedule.

The idea that every small action counts as a vote for the identity that action belongs to.

An identity whose adoption naturally pulls many other behaviours into alignment, making broad change more efficient.

A goal defined by a result to be achieved, contrasted in the book with identity-based goals defined by who you become.

The discomfort produced when behaviour contradicts an established self-image; a signal of change in progress, not of failure.

The narrative a person carries about who they are, assembled largely without conscious choice and reinforced by self-talk.

The mechanism by which small actions become proof that reshapes self-image over time.

The final stage of identity change, where a new self-image stops feeling like effort and simply becomes who you are.

The mind's drive to keep actions aligned with self-image, which stabilises habits but also resists change.

The temporary use of discipline to support a new identity until it can hold itself up.

You need a new identity. Start with the book that shows you how.