Define Your Identity: The Freed Creed
The Idea of your Identity.
If you’ve ever coached with me or asked for advice on how to become a better leader or a coach, I probably brought up the course Creating Lasting Change from Tony Robbins. In that course, one of the quotes Tony shares is “the strongest force in human beings is to remain consistent with how we define ourselves.” How we define ourselves matters and as human beings one of our superpowers is we get to choose how we define ourselves. We get to choose our identities.
My goal in writing this is to weave together a series of principles to give you the framework, ideas, and toolkit to define yourself however you see fit.
Let’s start with one of my all-time favorite books, Atomic Habits by James Clear. Check out the excerpts…
“The word identity was originally derived from the Latin words essentials, which means being, and identidem, which means repeatedly. Your identity is literally your “repeated beingness.”
“The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.”
“Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe... start by focusing on who we wish to become.”
“True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.”
Dr. Phil defines our identity as our personal truth. He says ” a personal truth is a story you believe about yourself when no one else is looking or when no one else is listening. It’s really what you believe about who you are. The reason personal truth is important is because we generate the results in life we think we deserve.” (Personal Truth Explained Video)
A couple of months ago, I was on a trip through a company called Project Three of Seven which is led by Chadd Wright. During Project Three of Seven, they handed out creed cards. The creed was a statement. It was a statement about who Chadd believed himself to be and he used it to speak into existence the personal truth or identity he wanted to embody. He encouraged us to read it outloud because Chadd believes there is power in the spoken word. (For more on the power of the spoken word check out the podcast with Chadd Wright and Rich Roll here)
That trip was tough and I found myself returning to the creed over and over as a way to dial in my mindset. When I returned home I found the definition of the word creed.
A Creed is a set of beliefs or aims which guide someone’s thoughts, focus, and actions.
As I mentioned earlier Chadd’s creed was a statement about who he believed himself to be. It was a detailed description of his identity or personal truth which guide his thoughts, focus, and actions. It was the standard of his repeated beingness.
Leaving Project 3 of 7 made me believe in the power of identity and fostered this desire to create my own creed; The Freed Creed. The Freed Creed is a description of the man and leader I intend to be. It is the self-engineered identity or personal truth I have identified and am installing into the software of my mind and soul every single day.
To create my newly defined identity I leaned on the principle of auto-suggestion which I first learned about in the classic book Think and Grow Rich.
Check out this excerpt from Chapter Four…
“AUTOSUGGESTION is the agency of control through which an individual may voluntarily feed his subconscious mind on thoughts of a creative nature, or, by neglect, permit thoughts of a destructive nature to find their way into this rich garden of the mind.
It is the agency of communication between that part of the mind where conscious thought takes place, and that which serves as the seat of action for the subconscious mind.
Through the dominating thoughts which one permits to remain in the conscious mind, (whether these thoughts be negative or positive, is immaterial), the principle of auto-suggestion voluntarily reaches the subconscious mind and influences it with these thoughts.“
Napoleon Hill outlines the six steps of autosuggestion in great detail in Chapter Two of his book. The one step above all I want you to take from this writing is to “read aloud twice daily the written statement of your DESIRE FOR MONEY, and to SEE AND FEEL yourself ALREADY in possession of the money.” Instead of your written statement being for your desire of money make it your desire for who you intend to become i.e. your creed.
Your first step is to develop your version of the Freed Creed that you will commit to reading, reviewing, and rehearsing (auto-suggesting) every single day. This is your opportunity to define and create the identity or personal truth that will allow you to live in the highest expression of yourself and your dreams. To start you on your journey we have included a Creed Worksheet.
Download it and use it to get yourself started.
Once you have your Creed written the real work begins. Incant it, repeat it out loud a minimum of twice every single day. Allow it to work its way into your subconscious mind. Consciously define yourself. Consciously structure your identity. Consciously break the spell or story of who you think you are, and install the one that you ultimately need to live out your highest purpose. Become the hero of your own movie.
Thank you for reading.
Let’s get to work
Jordan
