Your identity, what you believe about yourself, is what creates your personal circumstances. Think about the people that forever struggle with something. What do they tell themselves? “Oh, I’m just bad with…”

Now think about the people who don’t ever seem to struggle; things come easily to them. What do you think they tell themselves? They don’t do much self-talk around what they’re good at because to them, it’s just part of who they are. 

In both cases, there’s an identity. And in both cases, identity and belief about who they were came before the results they created.

You create your results based on how you think about yourself.

Truly, your identity precedes your circumstances. This is your personal psychology at work. It provides the framework for how you move through the world. Look, somewhere in my early history, I was exposed to scary rattlesnakes. I generalized that fear to extend to all snakes as a child and brought that fear into my adulthood. 

A few years ago, I gave myself a challenge: “How would a person who is not afraid of snakes, better still, a person who is super comfortable with snakes – how would that person think and act?”

I have a picture of me smiling from ear to ear as I hold not one, but two boa constrictors as they wrap around my arms and shoulders. I became a person who was at ease with snakes. Oh, I have a lot of respect for venomous snakes and won’t go out of my way to say hello to them. That said, I no longer stay out of herpetology exhibits. They now fascinate me. Just like that. 

Where you are now was shaped over time by quiet and consistent thoughts about yourself. You need to be willing to disrupt your old way of thinking to take on a new way of being. 

Thinking. Then, being.

You were exposed to something, gave meaning to it, and then let your subconscious guide your choices. Those choices became patterns that grew into your way of being. That way of being got you the results you’re living with now.

To get different results, to level up, to grow into your Next Big Next, you’ll need to believe yourself to already operate at that level. You get results when you believe something will work and you act on that belief. 

When you teach your subconscious to accept something as true, your attention reorganizes and your decision-making shifts. You begin to tolerate, even welcome, a new level of discomfort. It becomes oddly fun. As a result, your behavior shifts. You think and then act differently. In doing so, your outcomes change. 

Your circumstances only reflect your current way of thinking. Change the way you think, change your beliefs about yourself and your capabilities, and you’re well on your way to your Next Big Next.

Keep making your magic and I’ll see you here next week.

= Wayne =