James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) recently wrote something that I disagreed with:
“You will rarely outperform your self-image.”1
Actually, this is precisely how you improve your self-image, but you can only outperform it incrementally, improving your self-image bit by bit via self-perception.
Your self-image is partly the result of your thoughts – what you think you’re capable of. But a larger factor is your actions – what you’ve seen yourself do. When you take an action that stretches you a little beyond your self-image, your brain is forced to update your self-image to account for what you’ve just done.
We often don’t feel capable of doing something until after we do it. As Clear himself has written, you have to start before you feel ready.2
It’s true that you’ll rarely outperform your self-image by a large amount. But if you’re pushing yourself each day, you will outperform your self-image a little bit every day. That’s how both your performance and your self-image improve.
1Clear, James. 3-2-1 Newsletter. 5/14/26.
2Clear, James. Successful People Start Before They Feel Ready.
Chris Loper has been writing about self-improvement and helping busy adults with habit formation since 2017.
He also writes an education blog for parents and students for Northwest Educational Services.
Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the cocreator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of transformative classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families.
His most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more.
In 2021, Chris published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons.
He lives in Issaquah, WA where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.