Without prejudice toward either philosopher, what we can say with confidence is that you will have a better chance of realizing happiness if you can see yourself as a dynamic agent of your own progress. If you’d like to become more Aristotelian in your self-understanding, here are three steps to get you started.

1. Find the person you want to be.

To shake yourself out of a static identity, try devising a concrete goal that will require progress and change. A good way to do this is through analyzing what you admire about a real person or people you look up to. Aristotle himself recommends this when he writes, “Men become builders by building and lyreplayers by playing the lyre; so too we become just by doing just acts.” The goal is not to grab a new fixed identity but to improve in virtue by following a concrete model of what success looks like.

2. Break down your model’s traits into component parts.

The person you want to emulate doubtless has a bundle of characteristics you like, and perhaps some you don’t. Write them all down. Let’s say that you would like to emulate her honesty, work ethic, and creativity but not her occasional haughtiness. The first three are approach goals; the last is an avoidance goal.

3. Make a plan.

To be a good Aristotelian, you need a plan to transform yourself in each dimension of your desired improvement. One handy way to do this was popularized by Benjamin Franklin, who sought to transform himself by setting out a calendar grid: Each week, he would seek to intensively practice one of the 13 virtues he wanted to cultivate. So, week one: temperance. Week two: frugality. Week three: sincerity. And so on.

[Arthur C. Brooks: How to cope with election agony]

Our culture today is likely to push you to be a Platonist—to define yourself as being a particular sort of person, with a fixed, permanent character. This is certainly convenient for businesses and political parties: It makes you a repeat customer, a reliable voter, a faithful donor. Having such an immutable identity can be appealing if it also gives you a sense of belonging as “one of us,” not “one of them.”

But it can also leave you stuck in circumstances that you might not like, and that will make you less happy than you could be. Instead, become more of an Aristotelian, and that can set you free.

Arthur Brooks • Are You a Platonist or an Aristotelian?