You cannot build a new identity while collecting evidence for the old one.

An identity needs evidence to stand up, and whichever identity you keep feeding proof will be the one that survives. If you say you want to become someone reliable while still recounting every story about how you always let people down, you are running a collection campaign for the old self. The stories are not neutral. They are the material the identity is built from.

Catch yourself the next time you narrate an old label out loud, even casually or as a joke. Try declining to say it. Then look for one small piece of evidence from this week that supports the version of you that you actually want.