Are you still the same you you used to be?

Are you still the same person you’ve always been? I read an article this week where the author categorized people into ‘dividers’ and ‘continuers’.

Some people feel that they’ve altered profoundly through the years, and to them the past seems like a foreign country…others have a strong sense of connection with their younger selves, and for them the past remains a home.

When I think of myself as a child, or as a teen, it feels like I’m remembering someone else. The idea of attending a high school reunion is such a strange concept to me. Putting aside the fact that few people would remember me, if they did remember me, it doesn’t feel like I’m the person they’d remember. It’s as though I think of my younger self in the third person. I’d fit in the ‘divider’ category.

Other people I’ve talked to don’t feel that way. They say they’re essentially the same person they’ve always been. They’ve matured and changed, but there’s a sense of continuity between their childhood self, their young adult self, and their current self. It doesn’t feel jarring to them to think of who they were back in the day. They might still keep in touch with high school friends, or attend high school reunions and reminisce about their younger years.

My interests have largely remained consistent over time, but my personality has changed. In my high school sociology class, we had to select the five personality traits that best described us. I think I chose: stubborn, moody, independent, shy, and analytical (or something along those lines). There’s some overlap with what I’d choose today, but shy and moody, which were dominant personality traits then, wouldn’t make the list now. I probably wouldn’t describe myself as stubborn either, but I feel like I’d get some pushback on that.

If I think about who I was at home vs who I was in public, then I’m more of a continuer. Our memories are notoriously fallible and selective, though, so it’s hard to know how accurate our perception of our younger selves is. Or our current selves, for that matter.

Even from the outside, though, when I apply this idea to kids I’ve known since they were in diapers, I can divide them into those who became bigger versions of the toddlers they were, and those who turned out very differently than I’d have predicted based on their toddler traits.

What about you? Do you feel like a divider or a continuer?

Winter has definitely arrived in Ontario. I think Bill and Ray have cleared the driveways half a dozen times over the last few days and it’s still snowing as I type. Temps also plummeted to minus 20 with the windchill. Oh, Canada!

In my last post, I said I committed to improving my health-related habits in 2026. Changing habits is challenging, especially when it’s something you don’t particularly like doing, or there’s no immediate benefit, but there are ways to make it easier.

• add friction to habits you want to stop; make them harder to do (remove social media apps from your phone, don’t have sweets in the house, etc.)
  
• remove friction from habits you want to start; make them easier to do (lay out your workout clothes the night before, prep healthy meals in bulk ahead of time, etc.)
  
• start with easily achievable tasks, build the habit first and then improve it
  
• find ways to make the habit rewarding in the short term, or it won’t be sustainable in the long run

In early January, I put a lot of effort into eating all the chocolate in the house so it would no longer be around to tempt me…but, that’s probably not a good example.

The remove friction technique worked well for remembering to take my vitamins though. I never forget to make myself a cup of tea in the morning, so I moved the vitamins from the vitamin cupboard to the tea cupboard. Presto! I haven’t forgotten since.

A sure way to fail at becoming more fit would have been to resolve at the beginning of January to do five 45-minute workouts a week.

I needed a plan that would be easy to stick to in the short-term and sustainable in the long-term. Here’s what I’ve done so far:

• took three personal training sessions at the Y, which removed the friction of not knowing what to do. I now have a weight training program in writing that tells me what to do, how many reps, and at what weight

• committed to going to the Y with Ray for weight training on a specific day and time

• incorporated shorter mobility workouts at home, sometimes using an app mirrored to the TV, sometimes doing them in bed before I get up in the morning. I keep them short and easy
  
• started dancing at home as a fun way to do cardio – put Amazon Music on the TV, pick an 80s dance mix and just keep moving

I have a cycle set-up and a rowing machine that I could use for cardio, but I seem to have a psychological block about going up to the loft to workout. There are also cardio classes at the Y that I could join, but the dance-type classes always make me feel uncoordinated and the music isn’t always to my tastes.

Turning on the TV in the living room and bopping around is something I’m far more likely to do, and to keep doing. It’s also more socially acceptable to play air guitar or use an imaginary microphone when you’re alone at home than it is in a group class at the Y.

Home workouts have the added benefit of causing me to giggle whenever I get down on the floor and Juno immediately scrambles on top of me with a toy in her mouth. It adds an extra challenge to the routine, but giggling has both mental and physical health benefits.