The reality of a success mindset is that you’ve got to rewire your brain before you can actually succeed. Create and rebuild oneself mentally, in essence.
This entails letting go of your former identity and embracing a new one.
Self-identity affects how you see yourself. It all starts with your thoughts, which lead to beliefs, feelings, and actions that change our identity.
Real change requires a change in identity, whether it’s becoming healthier, breaking addictions, or finding yourself.
This is not the same as people looking for “how to change identity from a state and start a new life.”
Recreating your identity is a journey to break down the beliefs that have kept you prisoner in your own mind and ultimately become a better version of yourself.
Your identity creates your beliefs, and your beliefs influence your decisions.
Your decisions create your actions.
Your actions constitute your behavior.
Your behavior shapes your habits.
Your actions, habits, and behavior CREATE the results you get.
For example, when you’re suffering from a chronic illness, you may not be able to heal your body’s illness on the spot, but you can change how your mind decides to handle it.
If you want to be lean and confident, but you look into the mirror and tell yourself that you’re broke and fat, then you’re going to always feel unconfident.
1: Start small
Don’t start with the hardest stuff and expect to do it for the rest of your life.
You start with the simplest things and work your way up.
2: Use the power of personal transformation to recreate your identity.
Start by focusing on the aspects of your life that you want to change, such as your attitude, beliefs, or behaviors.
The biggest lesson I learned from a coach about mindset was upgrading your identity and belief system.
As you work to transform these aspects, your identity will start to shift and transform as well.
“If you want to achieve ANYTHING in life or business you MUST operate so from point B (desired state) not point A (current state)” Start acting from the point where you want to be.
3: Be persistent
Sometimes we fail and feel like giving up, e.g., when you relapse while recovering from an addiction.
You may beat yourself and call yourself a “slave” to such an addiction.
When you make the effort to create a new identity, never give up on your new identity; hold on to it fully and see the confidence you carry.
4: Dissociate your Identity from your Negative thoughts and emotions
If we allow our negative thoughts about a circumstance plus negative self talk to take over our feelings and create our actions, then that negative thought becomes our identity.
When you feel a negative emotion, it can be tempting to make it part of your identity, e.g., “I’m an angry person” or “I’m the jealous type.”
So next time you catch yourself wondering why bad things happen to you, ask yourself, “What am I holding onto?”
5: Dissociate your identity from setbacks
Part of creating a new identity is not allowing failure to define you. Gotta view losses for what they are … “temporary defeats” that are stand alone events.
I feel like every business owner, salesperson, and high performer struggles with this. Attaching their identities to their results.
And look, I’m human and very much the same way. It’s so easy to feel married to your results when they’re going well… But we all know that’s a slippery slope. Cause what happens on the days, weeks, or months where you don’t break a record… Aren’t able to close… Or do your results just plain suck?
The great news is that you aren’t your results. You aren’t your stripe account. And you’re not your bank balance
6: Let go of your past identity
Let go of any identity that is not serving you. It may be uncomfortable or scary at first, but letting go creates a world of opportunities. Too many people have made an identity out of the limitations that they’ve created for themselves.
7: Renovate Your Relationships
Take a look at the relationships in your life and figure out which ones are still meaningful and which ones need to be let go.
Reconstructing your relationships allows you to create a new social circle that is filled with positive energy and progress.
Surround yourself with the right people. Sometimes we need someone who is way ahead of us to validate our identity and potential.
Someone to hold us accountable and inspire us. Find that person who cares and can can see your gifts, personality, and passions
8: Reboot Your Career
If you’re having a career rethink in terms of fulfillment or monetary satisfaction:
Take a step back and look at yourself from a different perspective. Consider what skills you have, what you enjoy doing, and what you’d like to do in the future. Then, start shifting your focus to the things that you’d like to do.
I studied pharmacy in school, but before graduating, I was always careful about allowing any particular career to shape my identity; otherwise, it would have held me back from trying other interests.
9: Embrace Change
Embrace change as a way to recreate your identity. Make small changes in your life, such as taking on a new hobby or volunteering for a cause you care about.
As you do this, you will start to feel a sense of renewal and will be able to shift your identity in a positive way.
You can be anyone or anything at anytime. You can turn it all around. You can completely change yourself. Your identity or potential is not defined by your past or even who you are right now. Constant change is possible because you have the choice to recreate yourself right now.
— Idil Ahmed (@idillionaire) September 19, 2018
I got attracted to tech from an early age getting close to my Father. Coupled with learning some high end skills i was able to build a 6 figure Ecommerce store a few years ago after graduating from Pharmacy.
The only way I have found to express myself as an introvert is through writing.
I’m convinced 100% that to build a 6-7-figure business and beyond you need to invest in yourself and your personal development.
The more you grow, the more your business will grow.
PS: I wrote a short book on why you don’t need more motivation and how to push through in such moments – get it here:
Hi Emmy! I absolutely agree that it’s so important not to let our mistakes and past failures define us! So many people consider let their situations and circumstances define who they are, and make it a part of their identity! Great post!