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The Version of You That Got You Here…
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I was watching clips from Banana Ball at Yankee Stadium the other day. If you haven’t seen it, it’s… FUN! Baseball, but faster. Looser. Way more entertaining than traditional baseball ever tried to be. They’ve got dancing. Music. Players interacting with the crowd. Broadway performers from current hit shows singing... At Yankee Stadium. During a baseball game. On paper, that shouldn’t work. And yet… it does. It reminded me of something I’ve always been drawn to: Mashups. Back when the TV show Glee was on, each episode they’d take completely different songs and blend them into something new. Or that book, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. Shakespeare and Star Wars. Two things that don’t belong together… until they do. And I think that’s actually what a lot of people are navigating right now. Whether they realize it or not. They’re not starting over. But they’re not who they used to be either. They’re somewhere in between. And that space? It can feel uncomfortable. Because the version of you that got you here… It’s familiar. Proven. Safe. But it’s also the thing that can quietly keep you in place. I see this all the time. People holding onto an identity that used to fit… Even when it doesn’t fully fit anymore. They keep speaking the same way. Positioning themselves the same way. Even working with the same types of people. Not because it’s right. But because it’s known. And the alternative? Feels uncertain. So instead of moving, they hesitate. They second-guess. They stall out in that in-between space. But here’s what I’m starting to notice more and more: It’s not that you need a completely new identity. It’s that the one you’re operating from hasn’t caught up yet. You’ve already changed. Your experience has expanded. Your perspective has shifted. You see things differently than you used to. But you’re still relating to yourself (and presenting yourself) like the earlier version. That’s where the friction shows up. Because now you’re trying to move forward with an outdated map. The move isn’t to throw everything out. It’s to update it. More like those mashups. Not replacement. Integration. Taking what’s already true about you… Your past experience. Your current perspective. Your evolving point of view. All of it counts. But it only works if you’re willing to acknowledge it. That’s the part most people avoid. Not because they don’t know… But because once you see it, you have to make different decisions. You say no to things that used to make sense. You stop forcing roles that don’t quite fit. You start showing up a little differently. And that’s real. So if you’ve been feeling stuck lately, it might not be a strategy problem. It might be this: You’ve already followed the breadcrumbs. You’ve already seen the proof. You just haven’t updated how you’re operating because of it. Something to think about. Until next time, |
Business Coaching for Creatives
I'm a author, coach, and youtuber who loves to talk about personal development, marketing & branding, and business & entrepreneurship. Subscribe and join over 1,000+ newsletter readers every week!
Hey Reader, For the last several weeks, I’ve written about identity. About why understanding who you are matters more in the age of AI, not less. This week, I want to talk about work. Because I think something bigger is happening underneath all of this technology talk. For a long time, many of us were taught the same basic formula: Get the degree. Get the job. Work hard. Do good work. Stay loyal. You’ll be taken care of. And for a while, that model worked. Or at least it worked well enough...
Hey Reader, For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing and thinking a lot about identity. Not branding. Not image. Identity. And I think part of the reason is because we’re entering a moment where understanding who you are is becoming more important, not less. Especially in the age of AI. Every conversation I have lately with entrepreneurs, creatives, and professionals has this quiet question underneath it: “Am I still going to matter?” Not always consciously. But it’s there. You can feel it....
Hey Reader, There’s a moment I keep coming back to this week. Last week an accomplished client said,“I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.” Not dramatically.Not emotionally. Just… matter-of-factly. Like something that used to feel solid suddenly didn’t. And I’ve heard that before. A lot. But what’s more interesting to me at least, is where I turn my focus. We don’t start with strategy. We don’t jump to “what should I do?” We look backward. Where have you already handled something like this...