Not “I will” but “I am”

I just received an email from Jon Acuff containing a schedule for the Quitter Conference in September and I’m excited to see that Jeff Goins is one of the speakers. A few months ago I read a book by Goins called You Are a Writer, So Start Acting Like One. In a section of this book called “Finding the Dream”, a friend challenged Goins by asking him what his dream was. Goins said, “. . . I suppose I hope to maybe be a writer . . . some day.”

Simple Psychology

His friend replied:

“Jeff, you don’t have to want to be a writer. You are a writer. You just need to write.

Goins claims, “Those words struck a chord in me. The next day, I started writing. Without excuse or exception, I began.”

Sounds ridiculous. So someone just tells themselves they are something, and he becomes that thing? Yes, that’s it. Whatever a person wants to be–a teacher, a doctor, a more empathetic individual–he just believes it and he becomes it?

Yes. It’s that simple.

This is the exact principle of a class I teach called Strategies for Success, created by The Pacific Institute. It ‘s not so much that person automatically becomes whatever he wants to be, but he is taking that first step in becoming it: preparing the subconscious to accept this new identity. If a person does not believe deep down that he or she is that thing, then it will never unfold. By saying “I am,” the journey begins at that moment. Not, “I will” because that is telling the subconscious that the journey has not yet begun–and never will until he says, “I am.”

Goins says in his book: “Believe you already are what you want to be. And then start acting like it.”

Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like many people would scoff at this. “It’s too simple.” I say it’s the turning of the key in the ignition of a trip to becoming what an individual wants to be. It’s the building of a foundation. Without the turning of the key, without the foundation nothing can be completed.

So, when my friend, Ken, and I go to the Quitters Conference later this month, I’m eager to hear what Goins has to say.