Who Are You?... Identity

I am making my way through a number of audio books... and a theme keeps coming up over and over. It's the continuation of a theme that God started laying the foundation for years ago.

I had stepped into a new job, a newly created position as well. One where there was no one doing the job before me. I had to create the role, the processes, the output, everything. I tackled it eagerly and worked to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I was a sponge. But then one day I was meeting with an engineer. And he stopped me as I was saying "I'm trying to get up to speed as fast as possible. What would you like me to do with (          )? How would you like me to process this?"

He stopped me dead in my tracks and looked at me. He said "Keith, you are the expert.".

I was mind-blown. It took me a solid second to process what he meant by that. And then it hit me. I was in the role. I was doing the job. They were all looking to me for answers, not the other way around. Sure I was needing to get up to speed, but they hired me to do this and expected me to do it. I was the expert for this stuff.

I had to identity myself not as the person I was, in the role I was previously. But instead I had to identity myself as this new person. And I wasn't truly that person yet! I hadn't learned all the things. I hadn't done all the stuff, not even once yet! But there I was. I was Keith the [insert_title_here].

Turns out more often than not, you are the new person before you actually feel like you're the new person. We really do need to identity ourselves first as that new person in order to truly become that new person.

Sure it seems weird, crazy, absurd. But it's much like goals. You have to write them down, you have to speak them into existence else they will forever remain nothing more than thoughts and dreams. You have to identity yourself as the person you want to become, if you truly want to become that person.

Who is that person? That identity? Is it professional writer? Is it a congressman or the President even? Is it race car driver? Engineer? Business owner? Artist? Doctor? Whoever it is, whatever that identity is. Speak it into existence. You are that person, you are just mid training! Stop waiting until you feel like [insert_identity_name_here]! Stop waiting to be what you want to be. You are already that identity, you are just learning! A novice runner and a professional runner, are both runners. An apprentice engineer and a senior engineer, are still both engineers.

Quality and experience do not make the identity. You make the identity.

The Practice Journey

Getting closer! Finding all the aspect of my style!