Identity is slower than people want.
They want to decide who they are becoming, say it out loud, and feel the sentence lock everything into place. They want the language first because language feels immediate. Repetition does not. Repetition is ordinary. Repetition is quiet. Repetition asks you to do the same thing again tomorrow when nothing feels dramatic enough to call transformation.
But that is exactly how identity gets built.
One action means very little by itself. One clean day is not a new identity. One bad day is not a final verdict either. The pattern is what matters. The repeated choice. The standard held often enough that it stops looking accidental and starts looking true.
You do not talk yourself into a stronger identity.
You repeat yourself into one.
More here: https://jimlunsford.com/recovery-standard-identity-through-repetition/