Convert 'I am X' identity claims into 'In situation Y, I…

When This Fires

• When self-describing with identity claims: "I am [trait]"
• During self-reflection when evaluating personal strengths or weaknesses
• When identity-level beliefs are driving decisions without behavioral evidence
• After receiving feedback that contradicts a held identity claim

Common Failure Mode

Writing behavioral predictions that are too easy to pass: "I will sometimes listen to others." This is unfalsifiable in the opposite direction — the bar is so low it can never fail. Predictions need specific conditions, specific behaviors, and specific thresholds that create genuine pass/fail criteria.

The Protocol

For each identity schema: (1) State the identity claim: "I am [trait]." (2) Rewrite as behavioral prediction: "In [specific situation], I will [specific observable behavior] at least [threshold frequency/quality]." (3) Test: does the prediction have genuine fail conditions? Could you observe yourself not meeting the threshold? (4) Track: over the next 2 weeks, does your actual behavior match the prediction? Where it matches → the identity claim is behaviorally supported. Where it doesn't → the identity claim exceeds what your behavior actually delivers.