Welcome back to Thank God It’s Monday!
​
​tl;dr When trying to form a new identity (ie being a healthy person, being someone who doesn’t doom scroll, being someone who attracts success) requires consistent action. What once felt like being an imposter in a crowded room eventually becomes the confidence that you have the identity that makes up the crowd.
​
If you’re new here, I’m Shannon. I have identified as a trainer and coach for nearly a decade. I’ve carried the title of healthcare practitioner for about four years. And I am confident when I say I am a good communicator, I care deeply for my clients and patients, and I hold myself and my integrity to a very high standard.
​
Your titles might be different than mine, but I bet you have a few defining features and characteristics you share when you introduce yourself. How did you acquire those titles that best describe you? Did you wake up one day and decide you are a talented artist, a special ed teacher, or a disciplined athlete? Did you go to the store and buy the phrase, “skilled linguist” or “proficient in Excel” from the sales section?
​
Of course not. These descriptions came from repetitive action that probably took years to develop and hone. You have woken up day after day and decided to try again, failing more times than you’ve succeeded. But because of that, you have the courage to share your accomplishments because you’ve proven to yourself you’ll get back up and keep practicing.
​
Meaningful titles also don’t just get assigned. I can imagine new mothers take a while to feel comfortable saying, “I’m so and so’s mom.” Similarly, on my first day of PA school, I wasn’t going around boasting about being a PA. These identities take time to grow into.

With the advent of social media, there has been some murkiness around “expertise” and who is allowed to share “quality information.” (Quiet boomers, let me make my point). But Gen Z is bold about practicing new skills and redefining the arenas in which we can develop these identities. They aren’t afraid to try and fail, not to mention under the public eye. They are building new skills and qualities by failing fast and trying over and over again.
​
While we all have a responsibility to be critical thinkers and fact-check what we hear, the internet has allowed everyone to learn, do, and teach at a rate faster than ever before. And this is important because an identity that might’ve been hard to form in the past, due to more limited interactions with people, is now growing at a rate faster than what we could even imagine. Social media, with all its faults, has brought a tremendous amount of good with it too, as long as we all do our due diligence to consume and learn responsibly.
​
But the beauty of how close the world is now, with the age of the internet, is the ability to practice becoming whoever we want to be on a large stage, with a ton of feedback. Whether we want to be a healthy person, someone who doesn’t doom scroll, or someone who attracts success, we can practice those actions every single day with people who are willing to listen and comment readily at the tips of our fingers.
​
Even if you don’t want to leverage this tool, building an identity takes massive amounts of little action. “Massive amounts” meaning we have to do whatever it is consistently over long periods of time. “Little action” meaning we are detail-oriented about the things someone with the identity we are trying to form would focus on.
​
For example, if we want to start to identify as a “healthy person,” would a healthy person do a crash diet and try to do the stairmaster to burn off the Entemanns cake they binged on last night? Instead, they would probably be able to enjoy a small piece of Entemanns cake, fitting it into a balanced lifestyle, move to feel good and not punish themselves, and practice overcoming the negative thought patterns that arise. Massive amounts of little action.
​
Over time, practicing these habits would help you identify as a healthy person. Would this happen after the first day of eating a salad and getting to your workout class? No, or at least it wouldn’t be honest with yourself. It would occur over months and years of choosing to do a little better each time the chance arises to align your thoughts and actions with a person of that identity.
​
Okay, so now what? If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. But I also want you to have a takeaway because the hope is that this helps you live a better life, not just read and think about one.
​
If you pictured your ideal self in five years from now, what would that person be doing? What would differ between current you and that future you? What identity does that person carry that you are still currently working on?
​
Is that person living independently with strength, enjoying their retirement? Is that person a new mom who loves spending time with their kids? Is that person in a better headspace where they don’t wake up fighting themselves every day?
​
What do you need to do to practice that identity? When you’re not sure what action current you should take to get there, consider what action that person (future you) would take and start there.
​
There is always a small part of us that wants to be more confident, stronger, more forgiving, more generous, etc. But we cannot simply buy it from the store. We must choose to wake up each day, try and fail, and with time, we will not recognize the person we’ve become. You can be whoever you want to be, if you’re willing to take massive little actions in alignment with that person.
​
If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM.
​
This week, my podcast recommendation is from Science Vs, “How to Stop Scrolling.”
​
With that, who will you be?
​
Until next time,
Shannon