[o1iver]

I was actually thinking about this today asking myself how often you have to tell yourself who you are until you become that person.

It's a kind of positive feedback loop. Until I started research at university I used to just do enough to pass well. When I started doing research I started enjoying it much more and consequently started working more. I became a hard-working person, both to myself and others. And this in turn led me to work even harder (also when it wasn't so enjoyable).

Same goes for other things like sports, community service, etc...