You Are What You Repeatedly Do, Excellence, Then, Is Not An Act But A Habit

Will Durrant once said this quote. I like it because it’s simple, easy to understand and above all else — it’s true.

This quote often gets attributed to Seneca. But it turns out that’s not true.

However, I don’t really care who said; “You are what you repeatedly do, excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

It doesn’t really matter.

What does matter is this quote’s simplicity.

Why?

Because we as human beings are very good at complicating things.

We think there must be some “secret” to success that is being kept from us. We think we need to know the “right people” to find our purpose. We need to wait for the “perfect time” to start something.

But I say that’s all rubbish.

If you want to make meaningful lifestyle changes, you simply have to start.

Making meaningful changes means relying on this boring truth most of us don’t want to admit.

And I don’t even think you need to be “excellent” as this quote mentions.

I think the fact that “you are what you repeatedly do” is a good enough reminder.

• The one who runs each week gets fitter and becomes a runner
• The one who watches what they eat becomes slimmer
• The one who works out a few times a weak becomes a strong person
• The one who shows up and writes regularly becomes a writer
• The one who thinks positive thoughts each day becomes positive

Similarly;

• The one who eats too much becomes fat
• The one who never exercises becomes tired
• The one who drinks too much becomes an alcoholic
• The one who complains all the time becomes miserable
• The one who lies all the time becomes paranoid

And so I’d go one further than just saying “You are what you repeatedly do.”

I’d say;

You are what you repeatedly do, say and think.

If you can change the things you do, say and think, you become a different person.

I’ve experienced this myself after years of self-doubt.

Here’s how I have made meaningful lifestyle changes in my own life based on this philosophy.

• Every week I go and play sports at least once. That’s a big deal for me because I haven’t done anything like that for years. And the truth is I never want to do it. I always look for an excuse. But I do it because I know it doesn’t count unless I keep doing it.
• I eat mostly “clean” foods these days. I’m more mindful of what I throw in my mouth every day. I don’t always enjoy doing it. Sometimes I want to plough through a cheeseburger instead. But I’m consistent because that’s when the results start to show.
• I make a huge effort to think positively. I want to create a positive environment in my head. When things aren’t going well, I remind myself they will get better eventually.

I keep doing these things even though I often don’t want to. But they have changed my life for the better.

But none of them matters if I don’t keep doing them consistently. Building these better habits has been a challenge, one I’m still working on.

Now I would say I’m someone who plays sports, eats well and looks for positives.

I have become what I have done repeatedly and it can work for you too if you have faith in yourself and keep going.

Admittedly, this is difficult at times because you’re forced to believe in the idea of something that doesn’t exist yet — the better version of you. You have to have a degree of faith.

But they are waiting under the surface.

Over to you…

There’s still a lot I want to work on and do consistently but these things have been a good starting point.

So how can you apply this quote to your own life?

Just start making a change and follow through on it. You won’t see results for days weeks or maybe even months but whatever it is, keep going.

Do the things you think the better version of you would do and keep doing them.

Download your FREE better habit bundle here.