If you’re feeling stuck or stagnant in your business, sometimes the answer isn’t a new marketing plan, fancy tool, or new logo. Sometimes the thing that needs to change is you.
Fortunately, Anthony Trucks is here to help.
For background, Anthony is a former NFL athlete, American Ninja Warrior, and international speaker. During the latest episode of the Launch Your Business podcast Anthony shares the guidance you need to make a meaningful shift in your business and life.
We discuss:
- Why the secret to a better life isn’t a shift in mindset, but a shift in identity
- How “Dark Work” can be the key to finally achieving the dream that made you want to become an entrepreneur
- Tools and routines for you to leverage if you ever feel stuck or helpless
You can listen to the full episode here and check out some of my top takeaways below.
Don’t just change your mindset, change your identity
If you’ve been following me for a while you know I often talk about how important the right mindset is in regard to achieving any meaningful goal. However, during our interview, Anthony points out that having the right mindset isn’t enough.
“Mindset is the way your mind operates in real time. How you function, how you process, how you think. Whereas identity is actually, for the most part, an unconscious thing you do.”
Anthony continues and provides an example for more context.
“We have this really interesting part as humans, which is that we have this crazy deep desire to be in alignment no matter what it is. If I’m the guy that does a backflip every day, I’m going to do a backflip every day because that’s who I am. That’s how I identify. So much so that if I find myself about to go to bed at night and I haven’t done my back flip, I’ll get outta bed to do my back flip. So I can continue to say ‘I’m the guy that does a backflip every day.'”
So, the first step to making a significant change isn’t just a mindset shift, you must change your identity.
Or, as the Greek philosopher Epictetus stated, “First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.”
Success leaves clues
Do you believe you’re capable of making a powerful shift?
According to brain scans conducted during a UCLA study, when a person talks about their future self, they perceive a stranger. Anthony shared his personal revelation that came from this study.
“So I thought, ‘How do I move toward my future identity if I can’t see it? It’s a stranger.’ So I thought to myself there’s always examples of people doing what it is that I want to do. “
Once you’ve determined what you want to do, Anthony suggests finding real-life examples you can leverage to understand how you should behave. Not just how you should think, but how you should actually behave. But he cautions that you don’t have to take on all their characteristics and behaviors, just the ones that serve a specific purpose.
He provides a few examples.
“I like the way The Rock works out, but I don’t wanna live his life. He’s gone for seven months out of the year or something crazy. Right? Not what I wanna do. But I like how he trains himself and repairs his mind. So, okay, cool. I wanna take that part. There’s guys that I’ve seen that are amazing dads and I go, I wanna mirror the way that they operate as dads. But I don’t want to do everything they do because they might be drinking or smoking too much.”
I like this approach because you can learn from anyone you admire, and you can select the best parts of them while leaving the rest behind. And as Anthony mentions, you can benefit from their guidance at any given moment.
“I know that when there’s something I want, or want to be part of my identity, in the moment where it’s difficult, I gotta ask myself, what would that person do in this moment?’ And you will be triggered with a response.”
So, a good next step towards shaping a new part of your identity is looking for a real life example of someone doing well in the area you want to work on. Remember, success leaves clues, so you can use this approach to eliminate uncertainty and save time.
How to stay disciplined while still giving yourself grace
Like Anthony, one of my goals is to be a good dad. Or, as I like to say, I want to give my kids a childhood they don’t have to recover from. But my kids sometimes make that more of a challenge than I’m up to at the given moment. And sure, it’s easy to be hard on yourself when you mess up, but those emotions are not going to solve the issue.
So what do you do when who you want to be isn’t aligned with your behavior? Anthony provided a unique perspective and helpful guidance on this matter.
“I am not disciplined to the emotion of things. I’m disciplined about the actual plan. But I notice that what we do is we run off emotions. So when you’re disciplined into an emotion, if you feel good, you do it. If you don’t, you don’t. And if you don’t do it, you feel worse for not doing it right? So it’s this weird vicious cycle.”
He then shares how he responds when he feels himself not doing the right thing.
“There’s days where I don’t do it, and I feel crap about myself, but I go, all right, as opposed to making this last for several days, what’s supposed to be done for my docket? What’s on my schedule? And then I’m gonna lean in the next day and do it. Here’s a cool thing. Action ends suffering. The actions of doing something when you don’t feel like doing it is what ends the suffering feeling.”
He continues.
“So when I fall off track and I’m not in line with who I’m supposed to be, or I say I am, I don’t spend a month being out of whack. The very next day or the next hour, I’m taking action against the emotion I feel. And I’m disciplined to a plan, and all of a sudden I get outta my, my funk. I feel good about myself, and I rock and roll, and I’m back in the pocket before everybody else would be.”
Does this sound good to you? Does it feel like a way to make meaningful progress in your life, and more quickly recover from setbacks? Then make a decision. Because it’s not some esoteric approach that’s out of your reach. All you need to do is decide who you want to be, and then do what you have to do.
Next steps:
Ready to learn more from Anthony so you can make a meaningful shift? Fortunately, there are several opportunities to do so.
And of course, listen to the full episode below. I’d love to hear your feedback!
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
