7 ways to maintain your identity through failure & setbacks (intro)
G.K. Chesterton has a great quote:
How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.
Let me make a slight adjustment to it:
How you think about yourself when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.
It’s easy to believe that you are who you want to be when things are going well.
It’s easy to believe you’re a fit, slim person when you’re eating well and exercising and drinking lots of water.
It’s easy to believe you’re a great leader when profits are growing every quarter and your team loves you.
It’s easy to believe you’re a great parent when your kids are happy, healthy, and doing well in life.
It’s easy to believe you’re a productive person when you’re on top of your to-do list and everything is getting done.
The real challenge, and what, I believe, differentiates the good from the great…
…is whether you can believe that you ARE who you want to be EVEN when things are going badly.
Instead of using those bad results as proof that you’re NOT who you want to be.
Can you wake up on a Monday after a weekend of overeating, feeling gross and bloated…
…and still say, “I’m a fit, slim person”
…and then handle your current situation LIKE a fit, slim person?
Can you have bad business results and a cranky, mutinous team…
…and still say, “I’m a great leader”
…and then handle your current situation LIKE a great leader?
Can you have kids that keep throwing tantrums and falling behind in their grades…
…and still say, “I’m a great parent”
…and then handle your current situation LIKE a great parent?
Can you wake up late and only get half your list done and be running behind on everything…
…and still say “I’m a productive person”
…and then handle your current situation LIKE a productive person?
It’s NOT that the person you want to be never has problems or setbacks or “off-track” moments.
The person you want to be has ALL those things.
It’s just that they react to them without a total loss of identity…
…which lets them problem-solve, figure it out, and get right back on track without any extra drama.
They don’t say “I overate all weekend…I’m a fat slob now.”
Or “Business results are bad…I’m a terrible leader now.”
Or “My kids are screaming…I’m a terrible parent now.”
Or “I’m behind on my list…I’m an unproductive person now.”
When you let a change of circumstance turn into a change of identity…
That new identity quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Over the next seven posts, I’m going to give you 7 ways to maintain your identity even when setbacks happen, you fall off track, and your brain is screaming: “You’ve lost it!!”
I thought about putting them all in one post, but I’m going to break them up because I want you to really try each one on for size.
Don’t just scan the list and say, “That makes sense, I should do that.”
Each day, I want you to really put that “thought t-shirt” on and see how it feels and how it moves and what the world looks like when you’re wearing it.
So we’re going to take this slow. One at a time.
Starting tomorrow :)
And if you don’t want to wait for each post…
And you want my help to develop YOUR custom game plan to handle setbacks like a pro and get right back on track, starting today…
Come talk to me, and let’s get started :)
Part 1 ➡️
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