The Subtle Power of Changing Your Identity One of the most powerful switches I ever made when changing my entire life was switching up my identity. And while I never did it overnight, I successfully did it in multiple areas:
his finances … every time I’ve made a major (or minor) life change that stuck, I changed my identity. It’s more powerful than most people realize.
The Subtle Benefits of Changing Your Identity
• I changed from a smoker to a non-smoker — and once I did, I stopped thinking of smoking as something to do when I was stressed. • I went from meat-eater to vegetarian (and later to vegan). It literally took meat off the menu for me, so that I didn’t even consider eating it. • I thought of myself as a marathoner. Later, as just someone who exercises regularly to stay fit and healthy. It meant that there was no question I was going to exercise, even if I fell out of it for a bit because of disruptions. • I became a meditator (and later Zen student). That means even if I stop meditating for a little bit, I’ll always come back to it. • I became a writer. Sure, before this change, I did write, but not daily (join my Create Daily Challenge in Sea Change if you want to change this one!). • I became a minimalist. Actually, before I decided to call myself that, there wasn’t really anyone else who called themselves “minimalists”. The purposeful change in identity allowed me to free myself of clutter and enjoy a life of less.
While it takes a little work, if you can shift how you see yourself … you’ll likely notice some of these benefits that aren’t obvious to most people:
There are dozens of other examples: as a father, unschooling parent, early riser, reader, teacher, speaker, entrepreneur, someone who takes meticulous care of
There are more benefits, but I’m going to let you discover them on your own. By now, it’s probably best to get to the How.
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• You’ll stop doing (some of) the behaviors that you used to do. Stop smoking, stop eating meat, stop playing video games, whatever someone with your identity wouldn’t do. • You’ll make the behaviors you want become a given. If you’re a writer, you write every day. No questions asked. If you’re an entrepreneur, you … entreprendre every day? You know what I mean. • Things that you have to debate yourself about … become not a question. This saves you a lot of mental energy. It becomes much less of a daily struggle. • You can change some long-standing beliefs about yourself. That you can’t do this, that you’re no good at this, that you aren’t someone who does this. If they’re not serving you, toss em! • You begin to get a mindset that you can change anything. You’re not stuck in old ways, but someone who can grow and become new possibility.
