The Things We Become

Ask almost anyone what kind of person they are, and they will answer with intention - the kind, the disciplined, the generous, the calm. Ask what they have been doing every Tuesday for the past six months, and you will get the truth.

We become what we repeat. Not what we resolve, not what we admire from a distance, but the small undramatic actions we perform until they no longer require our attention. Character is not built in the moments of decision. It is built in the thousand mundane moments we forgot we were deciding.

This is discouraging news for anyone who enjoys grand plans and fresh starts. A fresh start is just an intention wearing a costume. What matters is what survives Tuesday.

I am learning to stop asking who I want to be and start asking what I am doing today. The answer to the second question is the only honest biography I will ever write.