Identities Under Failure

Associating goals with a personal identity works for me. It becomes a North Star. Something I can always strive for and a source of motivation. Thinking of myself as a programmer causes me to program even when there is no reason to. I believe an identity is what you do. So, a runner runs, a writer writes, and I did the things I had to do to become those things. If an identity is leverage on the way to success, then, like other forms of leverage, it can compound failure as well. Warren Buffet clarified Charlie Munger’s quote on leverage this way: “My partner Charlie says there is only three ways a smart person can go broke: liquor, ladies and leverage,” Buffett said during a 2018 CNBC interview. Then came the twist: “Now the truth is — the first two he just added because they started with L — it’s leverage.” Leverage is just a way of multiplying a force, so this makes sense. Identities can compound failure in multiple ways. You want an identity that others decide. This one is common,…