How to Start Living Like the Person You Wish You Were

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Or maybe too good to be true? ‘It’s not as easy as that,’ I hear you say.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it is as simple as that and it’s not too good to be true, and also? It’s very easy. The only person and thing stopping you from being the very person you want to be, is you.

You might not want to hear it and you might disagree, but it’s true. The only person limiting you from your full potential is yourself. You can blame all of the external factors that you like, but when it really comes down to it, the only person standing in your way is you.

YOUR IDENTITY IS WHO YOU ARE

How you identify yourself speaks volumes about who you are as a person. It also relates to your personal qualities and skills. You might not even notice yourself doing it, and it may have a subconscious affect.

Think of it like this, do you ever say, ‘I’m always late,’ or ‘I’m not a morning person’. Well guess what? If you keep saying things like that, you’ll learn to accept those statements as fact and naturally come to believe those are identifiable traits.

Meaning, you’ll always be late ‘because that’s just who I am’ and you’ll never get out of bed before 9am because you’ve accepted that somehow you just can’t.

Maybe you associate other things with yourself like, ‘I never have any money to buy nice things,’ or ‘I’m a big drinker but I wish I was more into the gym,’ or ‘I don’t have the concentration to read a book’. In other words, you’re stopping yourself before you even get started.

So what would happen if you changed the way you spoke about yourself and changed the way you described yourself?

CHANGING YOUR IDENTITY

If you’re consistently late to appointments and have come to accept that you’re just a late person, start changing that mentality. Start describing yourself as someone that is always on time, if not always early and you’ll soon notice a difference.

Not a morning person? Set your alarm clock a bit earlier, give yourself something to look forward to every morning (like that first cup of coffee) and make yourself get up on that first alarm. Even set your phone at the other side of the room if you have to, meaning you’ll have to physically get out of bed to turn it off, as that’s always the worst part, right?

Related: Five Improvements to Make to Your Morning Routine

Instead of saying that you don’t have the concentration to read a book, pick a good book (maybe one from this list) and make sure you have the right surroundings to really get into the book. Set yourself a target of reading only 10 pages, and repeat this every day until you enjoy the book and want to read more.

By changing the way you think about yourself, you can change your actions and your identity. Once you find the power to change these things about yourself and change your mindset, you’ll realise that you can do absolutely anything.

Related: How to Improve Your Mindset

START AFFIRMING

One of the best ways to change your identity is to say things out loud and ingrain them mentally. Some examples:

• ‘I am a morning person as I wake up at 7am’
• ‘I am athletic because I go to the gym three times a week’
• ‘I’m an avid reader as I read every single day’
• ‘I’m always on time and often early’
• ‘I am healthy as I cook home meals with fresh products’
• ‘I am a runner because I go for a jog three times a week’
• ‘I am a good friend as I check in with my friends regularly’
• ‘I am good at saving money as I don’t spend on things I don’t need’

Repeat statements like these any time you start to think negatively of yourself or like you’re sinking into a bad mindset. You are all of the above and more. If it helps, you can even read a list like this every morning as soon as you wake to help the message sink in.

THE NEW YOU

I used to be someone that said, ‘I wish I was more like Sophie that goes to the gym every day,’ or ‘I wish I was more of a morning person like Ronan as he gets up at 6am every morning,’ or ‘I wish I could travel as much as Beth as she’s always off somewhere’.

Instead of wishing you could be like the people you admire, just be like them. Like I said above, the only person stopping you from being the person you want to be is you.

Related: Why You Are Who You Surround Yourself With

Want to be more like Sophie? Make time and go to the gym if it’s a priority for you. Want to be more like Ronan? Set your alarm and get up earlier. Want to be more like Beth? Stop spending money on things you don’t need, start saving and start planning.

Excuses will only get you so far in life, and the real winners are those that don’t make excuses and live their best lives because they don’t wish to be anyone else; instead, they just do it.

Stop standing in your own way and be who you really want to be.