What’s Your Identity?

When it comes to achieving any sort of lasting success…there’s the work that needs to happen on the inside and the work that happens on the outside.

If you’re trying to grow your business, you know the types of things that entails…

Running ads
Sending emails
Networking
Speaking
Selling

That’s the outside work…and it’s not really at all complicated.

So why don’t some people embrace it and do it on a consistent basis?

Because it’s not really part of their identity.

And changing that is the inside work.

I first figured this out back when I was a college baseball coach.

During my time as a head coach, we led all divisions of college baseball in hitting.

Over 2500 teams and we were #1 over a 6 year span.

I’d love to tell you that it was because I was a super-smart hitting coach or something…

…but that just wouldn’t be true.

But I did one thing particularly well.

I created a culture where players started to self-identify as really good hitters.

Players who were just ok other places hit like crazy when they joined our program.

They thought of themselves are really good hitters, so they behaved like good hitters.

Extra batting practice.

More focus and intensity in practice.

More confidence.

More effort in the ancillary stuff like strength training & vision work.

They handled adversity better because when they made outs they didn’t thing they were a bad hitter…it was just a bad at bat.

And every once in a while a player would transfer away from the program and they’d regress…a lot.

The still new the drills we used and the things we did…but they no longer identified as a great hitter.

I saw this type of thing immediately when I got into business.

People in the fitness industry identified as trainers.

Service providers.

Not business owners.

Not marketers, sales people or leaders.

So they might change their behaviors for a little while…but it didn’t stick.

They defaulted back to their core identity.

I talk a lot about what we do in the Producer Challenge and in Business Growth Accelerator…

…and as much as any tactical or strategic thing we address, it’s about starting to identify as a Producer.

Someone who produces the outcomes they want in their business…and in their life.

Shifting from drifting or reactive to being proactive.

I won’t tell you that it’s an easy transition to make…

…but it’s a game changer.

Frankly, it’s the only way all the tactical stuff becomes an ingrained habit that we embrace and enjoy.

Without the shift…progress is temporary.

So if you want to change your business…know that it often begins with evolving your identity.