Position Yourself

Breathe life into What Matters

Most of us have things we want to do, become, build, learn, or change.

We want to write. Get stronger. Learn a language.

Invest. Make art. Start a business.

Travel somewhere new.

Lead something. Create something. 

And yet important aspirations can remain strangely lifeless for years.

We talk about them. Think about them. Perhaps even research them. But listen closely to the language we use: I would like to. I’m going to try. Maybe someday. I’ll do it when I have more time.

There is nothing inherently wrong with these phrases. But they keep what matters somewhere out in front of us. They describe possibility without requiring a position.

I am changes that.

I am a runner. I am a writer. I am an investor. I am a good student. I am an artist.

Now something has been put into motion.

You have taken an aspiration that existed somewhere in the future and brought it into the present. You have given it a name. More importantly, you have given yourself a position from which to act.

That matters because Identity influences behavior.

Once you begin thinking of yourself as a runner, running is no longer merely an activity you hope to get around to. It is something people like you do. Writers write. Investors invest. Students study. Leaders lead.

Seth Godin makes a useful distinction regarding the words I am. I am five feet tall describes something given. I am a chef describes something we can choose, develop, and reinforce through what we do.

We often confuse the two.

We treat identities such as writer, leader, artist, athlete, entrepreneur, or investor as though they are titles bestowed upon us after we cross some invisible threshold. We wait for permission, expertise, recognition, money, credentials, or sufficient evidence before allowing ourselves to claim the Identity.

Reverse the order.

If you want to be a writer, write.

If you want to be a leader, lead.

If you want to be an artist, make art.

If you want to be a runner, put on your shoes and run.

Start wherever you are, with whatever you have. START. Begin.

Once you begin, you have something enormously valuable that you didn’t have before:

You have evidence.

You ran today.

You wrote 500 words.

You invested $50.

You practiced the piano for twenty minutes.

You studied instead of scrolling.

One action may seem inconsequential, but it is not. It is a piece of evidence about who you are and what you do.

Do it again and you have more evidence.

This is how identity becomes increasingly real. Not because we stand in front of a mirror repeating something we wish were true, but because our behavior begins supporting what we have declared.

Identity fuels action. Action produces evidence. Repeated action becomes habit. Habit, in turn, strengthens identity.

I am a runner becomes easier to believe when there are running shoes by the door and three runs on your calendar from last week.

I am a writer becomes increasingly difficult to dispute when there are pages on your desk.

This is what it means to breathe life into something.

We breathe life into what matters by giving it our attention, our language, our time, and ultimately our behavior. Without those things, even our most meaningful aspirations remain abstractions. They may be important to us, but they are not yet alive in our lives.

And there is another benefit to positioning yourself: you begin to see differently.

When you become an investor, you start noticing investment books, conversations, opportunities, and people you previously overlooked. When you become a writer, ideas that once passed unnoticed become material. When you become a runner, you begin thinking differently about your mornings, your shoes, your routes, your sleep, and your schedule.

The world hasn’t suddenly rearranged itself for you.

You have rearranged yourself in relation to the world.

That is an important distinction.

There is nothing magical about saying I am. Language alone does not make you a writer, athlete, investor, artist, or leader. Declaring an Identity and refusing to act on it eventually makes the words meaningless.

The power comes from using language to establish a position—and then behaving from that position.

That is Personal Agency.

You decide that something matters. You stop relegating it to someday. You bring it into the present. You give it your attention. You give it a place in your Identity. And then you begin supplying the evidence.

Position yourself.

Decide what deserves more life in your life.

Name it.

Begin.

Then breathe life into it again tomorrow via what you do next.