We’re halfway through January gang.

We have past Qutter’’s Day - last Friday - where most people make their first departure from their new year’s behaviors.

Motivation starts to wain - the results aren’t coming as quickly as you’d like - and the temptation to just “take a day off” becomes greater and greater.

This inflection point can and will tell the story of your year. The majority will fold and write off this year as another failure, or resolve to restart these goals at a later date.

But those who will succeed will come from two parties - the party who has not given up yet, and the party who faltered but decided to get right back on the wagon. The choice is yours for which group you will identify in. Your future self is watching!

If your environment can make or break a habit, then your social ecosystem - the people you spend time with - can make or break your identity. Andrew Huberman had James Clear on a recent podcast zeroed in on this fact - you don’t just act like the people around you…you become like them.

How Groups Shape Behavior & Identity

At the heart of both Huberman’s neuroscience lens and Clear’s behavioral science is a simple idea - humans are wired to mirror the norms of the groups we belong to. When the behaviors you want become normal in your circle (when they’re the default way people in that group operate) they require less willpower, less effort, and less internal debate to enact.

This isn’t just motivational fluff or the proverbial “you are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time around.” Social psychology finds that repeated interaction within a group leads to behavioral alignment - opinions, habits, and actions converge through influence (a phenomenon seen in classic social impact theory).

Think of how many examples you’ve (I’ve) seen of this in your own life:

James Clear often frames his habit framework around identity-based habits: the real shift isn’t just doing a behavior; it’s becoming the kind of person who naturally does that behavior. So instead of trying to exercise, you belong to groups where “we train” is just normal. That social norm becomes part of your identity.

Huberman reinforces this by pointing out that environments (both physical and social) don’t just trigger behaviors; they reshape neural pathways to make those behaviors more automatic over time.

I would have never gotten in shape if I didn’t have friends around me who were doing it themselves. I would have never ran a marathon if I didn’t have friends join me in the pursuit. I would have never had any career success if I didn’t have a couple of buddies who like to talk business shop when we were together.

The hardest part of this whole thing is that there are likely some ties you need to sever or step away from that are going to be hard to initiate. It’s not easy to step away from people you think you love, but if you conclude it won’t be possible to achieve who you would eventually like to be with them by your side, then it becomes on you to weigh out those pro’s and con’s. What you will likely find in retrospect is that you might have only had that negative behavior / interaction in common in the first place. Here are three actionable moves you can make today:

These moves turn the passive hope of self-improvement into the active choice of self-selection.

Right now, who is the makeup of your closest circle? If you want to be stronger, more disciplined, or more consistent - do your people naturally reflect those traits, or do you find yourself compensating for them just to stay on track?

Your goals are not just internal battles; they’re socially-contextualized processes. By curating groups where your desired behaviors are normal, you leverage the brain’s social wiring to make your identity inevitable rather than aspirational.

If you have the pleasure of owning a Costco card, then you own the secret to a fast start on your meal prepping escapade.

Bulk proteins, freezer-ready portions, and pre-cooked shortcuts mean fewer weekday decisions and more high-quality meals. Ask anyone who has spent a lot of time dieting and they will tell you the foundational secret is removing the resistance between you and a high-quality meal. That means:

Don’t rely on yourself to figure things out on the go. After many-a-trips to Costco over the last few years, here are 10 items that consistently end up in my cart - all easy to portion, freeze, or cook. I’ve even shown the cost of every 10g of protein to show this can be budget friendly too.

A cult meal-prepping hack in the fitness space. Go back to the deli and ask them for a 10 pound ground beef roll. This off-menu item will come in a tube that you can slice into 1-lb freezer bags → instant bases for chili, tacos, bowls, etc.
Cost / 10 g protein: ~ $0.35 (based on ~$3.20/lb, ~23 g per 4 oz cooked).

A diet can survive without chicken breast, but it’s ranking on the dieting pyramid is a hard one to usurp. These massive packs make it easy to grill, roast, shred, freeze large quantities of the bird.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.30–$0.40 (based on ~$3.70/lb).

Individually wrapped, omega-3 rich, reheats well. These little fillets are a nice way to switch up the flavor pallet when short on time.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.65 (based on ~$15/lb, ~22 g per 3 oz).

These bags from Costco are giant and the shrimp cooks in minutes. A weeknight savior for switching up the evening meal. Just add some protein pasta, rice, and go.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.50 (based on ~$13.69/2 lb bag).

Not a Costco exclusive, but one of my favorites of theirs. No prep required, macro-friendly shortcut. Don’t let anyone tell you rotisserie chicken is bad for your diet.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.25–$0.40 depending on yield.

Breakfast a hard one for you to nail? These are a social meal-prep breakfast staple. Just add some milk, throw it in the fridge, and wake-up to 30g of protein and good balance of cards.
Protein: 30g per pack
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.80–$1.10 (based on ~$13–$15 multipacks).

These already cooked skewers are a great option. They can be eaten alone, chopped into bowls or wraps, or topped on a salad.
Protein: ~19–20 g per skewer.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.70–$0.80 (based on ~$16.99 per pack).

The “cheat code” protein of Costco Instagram. Cooks fast, easy to portion, great for bowls, tacos, and stir fry. Macro dense and freezer friendly.
Protein: ~21–23 g per 4 oz.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.65–$0.75 (based on ~$11–$12/lb multipacks).

These are my favorite on the go snack. Clean label, no prep, great for travel or after meetings, and pure protein.
Protein: ~9–10 g per stick.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $1.00–$1.20 (based on ~$24–$26 multipack).

This is a newer Costco cult favorite, but in the meat section, you can find these diced bags of prepped chicken that look like they were prepared in a Chipotle line. Shred and drop into bowls, quesadillas, salads.
Protein: ~22–24 g per 4 oz serving.
Cost / 10 g: ~ $0.55–$0.65 (based on ~$15–$17 bags).

Getting a gram of protein per pound of body weight is a daunting task if you don’t map it out backwards. It’s made even more daunting if you leave it to your will power to continually prep things one meal at a time. That frozen pizza is a lot easier to cook when there isn’t some already cooked protein sitting there for you to grab.

Take advantage of your Costco card and load up on protein this week.