This week I’m going to talk about Identity shift. What is an Identity shift? In my opinion it is changing how people look at you, perceive you. We are all known for who we are and what we do. Joe, the mechanic, Someone the teacher, so on and so on. Well, an identity shift is the process of changing how people currently perceive you and transitioning into the person you want to become, your new identity. I am not talking about a witness protection scenario. I’m talking about how people are going to identify with you as you move into another area of life, or launching a new career.
This can be challenging and scary in a sense that, will you be taken seriously. Why I say this is because you are known in your social circles having a certain persona, your current profession, and you are nervous or scared that you may not be taken seriously as you move along this new journey. This forces you not to take action. This is especially true the longer you stay in your current position and how old you are. In order to make this transition what do you need to do:
- you must immerse yourself in what you want to be. There is a whole industry devoted to this, called self help.
- Find out what the successful traits are of people doing what you want to become.
- Make a list of these traits.
- Incorporate these traits into your life. Act on them. In the book stop doing that shit you will see that your are your actions not your thoughts.
- New set of goals and achievements.
- You have to change what you are currently doing.
To be honest with you, I have failed at this for years and I continue to struggle with this. For example, look at what I am doing today. I’m writing this post in my blog today. In the back of my mind I’m thinking what qualifications do I have to write on this subject matter, Who is going to actually read this post, and who is going to take my advice and act on it. The same holds true to driving an audience to my blog and website. Will I be taken seriously or is this going down as one of Paul’s side hustle’s that doesn’t work out or loses momentum after a few months. You, like me, want different things out of life, we want change, but you can’t create change without changing how you are currently going through life and expect things to change. I’m sure you have heard this following quote a thousand times. “The definition of insanity is to continue what you are doing expecting different results.”
So, what do you do? I ask myself this every morning when I awake. I tell myself that I am a winner 10 times, and that I am my actions not my thoughts. Why is this topic important, because this is the struggle holding you back. This is what is going on in my life. When we were having to stay home in isolation due to the virus it was easy to take on this new persona because I had more free time than before. During this time I realized that I couldn’t continue on as a strength and conditioning coach forever. This is when I decided that I was never going to put myself in this position again, and knew what I need to do. So, for that month, I was Paul the online entrepreneur. For that month, I got up every morning and was taking on video classes. Now that I am back to work I see myself falling back into my old habits, Paul, the strength and conditioning coach. The difference is, this time I refuse to go backwards. So, what do I say to people in a similar situation who are not happy with your job, want to make more money, just want a better life. You have to be willing to change your circumstances and adopt the characteristics of who and what you want to become.
If you want an online business, you have to do and act as if you were making your dream income. Daily. Not when you feel like it. So, go out, do some research. Find out what successful marketer’s are doing, what are they reading, and what are they listening to. And copy it. Follow in their wake. Meaning don’t become your own trailblazer until you have had a certain amount of success. This applies to whatever you are trying to become. This is your identity shift.
Have a great week and see you next week.