A Tiny New Habit for Lent

How do you view Lent? Is it an opportunity to become a better version of yourself spiritually? Or is it an obligation you surrender to for forty days? I’ve often looked at it like a New Year reboot – making that New Year’s resolution to [insert bold transformative goal here]. Many times, I felt like a failure because I didn’t do “all the things” immediately to be that “new and improved” me.

I don’t think we ever intend to start out with failure as an option, yet we set ourselves up for it by expecting immediate success or immediate transformation. “I’m going to give up all sweets even though I’ve considered them a major food group for decades. I’ll exercise every day even though I haven’t so much as walked once a week. And I’ll drink 64 or more ounces of water daily even though I’ve existed on a few cups of coffee a day for hydration for the past 25 years.” There are years of poor practices and habits that have kept us from success or transformation, so why would we expect instantaneous growth?

A couple of years ago I discovered the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. If you aren’t familiar with it, this book explores the key to achieving long-term success not through massive, drastic changes, but through the accumulation of tiny, incremental habits—referred to as "atomic" habits—that compound and yield significant results.

One of the concepts this author emphasizes is the importance of focusing on identity rather than on outcome. That is, shift your focus from achieving specific goals to becoming the type of person who embodies the desired habits. For example, instead of focusing solely on losing weight, one should focus on becoming someone who is healthy and makes decisions that support that identity.

With Ash Wednesday in just a few days, I began to consider how I would apply this concept to a Lenten journey. I want to be a better person spiritually and envision doing countless things to get there. I can easily set myself up for failure if I try to launch into all of these at once. Instead, I’ll focus on just one habit to get there: I desire to pray more intentionally.

Focusing on identity rather than outcome, I phrase this goal in terms of the type of person I want to become, rather than just the act of praying more. This shift helps make the habit part of who I am rather than something I’m simply trying to do.

• "I am a spiritually grounded person who connects with God regularly."
• "I am a person who prioritizes prayer as a source of strength and guidance."

By framing it this way, I’m aligning my identity with the desired habit, making intentional prayer an integral part of who I am. With this approach I turn prayer from a task into a natural expression of my identity, making it easier to stick with my spiritual practice beyond the “forty days of Lent” because it aligns with my sense of self.