Eliud Kipchoge

Self-Discipline as the Bridge to Becoming

From a psychological perspective, disciplined action can be understood as identity-reinforcing behavior: you do the work, and the work teaches you who you are. James Clear’s *Atomic Habits* (2018) popularizes this idea by arguing that habits are “votes” for the kind of person you want to become. Over time, the accumulation of these votes makes the desired identity feel less aspirational and more factual. This helps explain why the “quiet act” matters. Even small, unglamorous follow-through—reading ten pages, saving a little money, taking a short run—compounds into evidence that you are the type of person who keeps promises to yourself. [...]