You are who you say you are

By Daniel Francis

I am giving you a little sneak peek into a topic that will be in my next book. Over the years of coaching individuals on personal development, I typically get to a point in training where I ask them what they identify as.

And no, I do not mean what their pronoun is; I mean what is their success identity or identities. A ‘success identity’ is a full profile of the type of individual you strive to become. It encompasses values, beliefs, mindset, and even purpose.

Let’s say that your success identity is that of a phenomenal teacher. You have to now fill out the profile of an amazing teacher. What values do they hold? What are their deep-seated beliefs? What is their unshakeable mindset? What is their purpose that guides their actions?

Once finished, you now try to take on this persona yourself. You begin almost acting the part until you become what you identify as. Of course, this is a process. It won’t be easy at first but as you begin entering different situations on the premise of ‘What would a great teacher think, do, or say in this scenario?’, you slowly begin the process of change.

You start to take a hard look at the deficiencies you have that are now halting your process of becoming that great teacher and how you can develop them. All obstacles which stop you from that identity you must now treat them as mini challenges to be overcome so you can ultimately become that success identity.

You also do not need to stop at one. After you have a handle on one success identity – the actions associated with the identity have now become a habit – you can start working on another success identity. You can slowly start stacking layers of success identities that build on each other and develop you into an unstoppable individual.

I think for persons who are in a rut or tend to get overwhelmed easily, this is a great approach to take because you can focus on one aspect of building the new identity at a time and you set the pace.

For example, I am using this technique to work my way back to what I consider my optimum state. I started with health because I felt I was overlooking this area of my life for a few years, but I also knew that once I got into it, I would fall into old positive habits as I used to be somewhat of a health nut.

I started by building the success identity of a ‘gym rat’ of sorts and the immediate next step was to prioritise the actions that came from the profile. This began with prioritising gym four days a week. We have all been in this position where we get jolted into action, but it eventually dies down, right?

The difference here is that I took the time to fully accept that I am now a gym rat. To the point where I go to bed early to wake up for gym.

When I feel sore or a bit tired and I start selling myself on the idea of not going, I recall what would a person who identifies as a gym rat do in this position. I knew it was to get my sorry butt up and go to the gym.

Four months later and gym is a habit, meal prepping is a habit, and it is easier to stay consistent because this identity is now just a part of me.

Imagine if you used this cheat code to identify as a stellar Catholic. You developed what the profile would look like, and you prioritised all things in your religious life. What would that look like?

As you are reading this, I urge you to put pen to paper and do the profile now and list some actions that will go with this profile.

Start with the first action and prioritise it above all else. It could be as simple as not missing church on a weekend. As it becomes a habit, work on the next and the next and the next until you are unrecognisable to yourself.

We do not need to overcomplicate things. You are who you say you are so choose to be someone great.

Daniel Francis is a millennial helping other millennials. He is a two-time author of the books The Millennial Mind and The Millennial Experience, and an entrepreneur. Over the past four years, he has served as a Personal Development Coach whose work targets Millennials and helps them tap into their full potential. He is also a Self-publishing coach and has guided hundreds on self-publishing their book successfully.

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