so have you ever felt like you're stuck in a loop living a life that doesn't quite feel like yours like there's this version of you that you want to be but it always feels just Out Of Reach if you're here you probably want a fresh start you're ready to reinvent yourself and make this the year where everything changes but here's the thing real transformation isn't just about setting goals or changing what you do it's about changing who you believe you are now if you've watched me here on YouTube before then welcome back but if you
are new to my channel then welcome I'm Dr Kim Foster and I'm an MD turned coach and wellness expert I was a family doctor for 20 years before leaving the healthc care system to Pivot into wellness and the personal development space so the idea of reinvention is something that I am quite familiar with personally in this video I'm going to share the ultimate secret to Reinventing yourself and I'm going to walk you through it step by step and it all begins with a powerful shift in identity so let's Dive Right In to begin I'm going
to let you in on a secret that most people totally Overlook when they're trying to make big changes in their lives the secret to True transformation isn't in setting more goals or working harder or even changing your environment those things can help but they are not the core of what actually drives change the real key is your identity it's who you believe you you are at your core what I have seen through all my years as a primary care physician and a coach after that plus what I have learned through the research is that behavior
follows identity if you see yourself as someone who is disorganized you're going to really struggle to build habits that would require a lot of structure no matter how many productivity hacks you try if you believe you are not a morning person you're not likely to stick to an early morning routine even if you said a dozen alarms think of it like this our behaviors are like branches on a tree but our identity is the root if you want to change the fruit that the tree produces you have to address the root when you shift your
self-concept when you start to see yourself differently your actions and habits naturally start to align with that new identity and here's the science behind this researchers studying neuroplasticity have found that the brain can rewire itself based on repeated thoughts and beliefs in Psychology it's called the self-fulfilling prophecy when you believe something about yourself your brain essentially Works to make it true by shaping your actions and your behaviors to align with that belief think about it someone who identifies as an athlete doesn't have to force themselves to exercise it's just part of who they are the
same goes for any identity whether it's being a writer a leader or a confid confident person when you identify with it you naturally act in accordance with it so if you're looking to reinvent yourself in the new year or honestly at any time of year the most important work isn't just in what you do it's in who you become that's where the transformation begins so all that said I want to give you a five-step process now for how to do this how to make that identity shift so that you can believe yourself to be the
kind of person that you want to be so that behavior and your actions align now most people Begin by setting goals but they don't have a clear vision of who they need to become to achieve those goals and that's the problem without a clear picture of your future self your goals might feel unrealistic or impossible to reach because you're stuck with the same identity and mindset that you have now so here's where we start I want you to imagine who you want to become in the year ahead I don't just mean what you'll achieve I
mean who you are at your core how do you carry yourself what kinds of habits and thoughts and actions define you what makes you feel fulfilled this is Step number one defining your future self which is a vision of the person that you're becoming if you want to make this really powerful try writing a letter from your future self to your present self describe in detail who you are what you've achieved and how you feel make it real this isn't isn't just wishful thinking it's about getting Clarity because once you define that future self you'll
be able to take actions that are aligned with becoming that person every single day now once you've defined your future self it is time to move on to the next step and one of the biggest reasons that people struggle with reinvention is that they're still clinging to an old version of themselves they say things like I've always been this way or I'm just not someone who's disciplined or I'm too old to start fresh and these are limiting identities that keep you stuck this reminds me of an experience that I had during my medical residency I
was working with a patient who was near the end of his life and he had been battling his illness for a long time and one day he shared something that really stuck with me he said I spent so much of my life defining Myself by my job and by what I thought I couldn't do and now I wonder who I could have been if I had just let myself try watching him come to this realization showed me how powerful and limiting our self-imposed identities can be that moment has always stayed with me as a reminder
not to let old beliefs Define my future so let me tell you a story about Vera Wang you might know her as an iconic fashion designer but that wasn't always her path she dreamed of being an Olympic figure skater but after not making the team she pivoted to journalism and became an editor at Vogue when she didn't get the Editor in Chief position she found herself at a Crossroads now most people might have given up on reinvention at that point but at 40 she made the Bold choice to start over in fashion even without formal
training somehow she was able to release the old identities that no longer served her and that is how she became the ver Wang that we know today so step two is all about identifying and releasing your old identities think about the beliefs that you hold that don't align with the person that you want to be maybe you've been telling yourself you're not confident or you're too busy to focus on yourself write these down acknowledge them and then make a conscious decision to let them go you're not defined by who you were yesterday now if you
want more help with this then you might be interested in my free workbook called change your mindset change your life I walk you through a variety of prompts to help help you get underneath what you believe about yourself when it comes to your health and your life and your selfworth the link to download that workbook is in the description below now let's move on to the next step and it is time to get practical one of the biggest reasons that people get overwhelmed when they try to reinvent themselves is that they think they need to
make huge changes overnight but real change doesn't happen in one big leap it happens in small consistent istent steps that build up over time this is where BJ fog's concept of tiny habits comes in he teaches that tiny actions done consistantly are incredibly powerful because they're manageable and reinforce your new identity so instead of trying to overhaul your entire life in one go start with small daily actions that reflect the person that you're becoming if your future self is someone who prioritizes Health maybe your tiny habit is drinking a glass of water every morning morning
or going for a quick walk if your future self is disciplined set a timer for 5 minutes and work on a focused task when I was shifting my own identity and Reinventing myself from being a doctor into being a coach and an online entrepreneur in the wellness space one of the first things that I started doing was blogging this was back in 2011 when blogging was really booming and I thought well if I want to become someone who is sharing expertise outside of just my little exam room oneon-one I need to be someone who puts
herself out there so I just started in my own small way putting out a short blog post just once a week and that reinforced my new belief in myself that I was someone who had content to share and that I could reach people even if they weren't an official patient sitting in my clinic so this step step number three is build your future self with micro habits I want you to write down three tiny habits that align with the future that you envisioned and remember these don't need to be big small actions done consistently have
the power to reshape who you are now for the next step I want to raise the issue of selft talk the way you speak to yourself is one of the most powerful forces shaping your identity but here's the problem most of us have an inner dialogue that reinforces our old limiting identities even as we're starting to adopt some changes we say things like oh I'm not good at this or I always mess up these words become the reality we live in Muhammad Ali famously used the Mantra I am the greatest long before he became the
champion that we know today he repeated this phrase over and over and by reframing his inner dialogue he began to see himself as a winner and eventually the world saw him that way too so this step step number four is changing your inner dialogue start by paying attention to how you talk to yourself instead of saying I can't do this try I'm learning to do this instead of I'm not disciplined say I'm becoming more disciplined every day write down a few affirmations that align with your future self and make it a habit to repeat these
daily your words have the power to shape your reality so use them to reinforce the identity that you're stepping into okay so once you start taking some small actions that will bring you closer to your future self and you're noticing your inner dialogue and working on changing that it's time to move on to the next step now a lot of people when they get to this stage get stuck that's because sometimes when you're ready to move past the micro habits and starting to make some bigger moves to truly step into a new identity it feels
intimidating especially if you're facing self-doubt and this is where having an alter ego can sometimes be a GameChanger Todd Herman teaches this in his book The Alter Ego effect that adopting an alter ego can help you to bypass insecurities by allowing you to kind of borrow the traits of somebody who already embodies the qualities that you're aiming for so let's look at Beyonce early in her career she struggled with Stage Fright so she created an alter egoo named Sasha Fierce Sasha Fierce was bold and confident and fearless everything that Beyonce wanted to bring to her
performances but didn't always feel that she could by channeling Sasha fears on stage she could embody these traits and silence or insecurities so step number five is an optional step but if it helps you this is about stepping into your Alter Ego think of qualities that you want to embody do you want to be more assertive or confident or resilient create an alter ego that brings out those qualities and give this version of yourself a name when you need that extra boost ask yourself how would my Alter Ego show up in this situation over time
you'll find these traits becoming being part of who you truly are okay let's move on and talk about the final step that I have for you today so one of the biggest challenges with transformation is trying to change while surrounded by people and influences that keep reinforcing your old identity if you're serious about Reinventing yourself you need an environment that supports your new vision with my own transformation I knew the environment that I was in every day was not in alignment with where I wanted to be in the future most people people in the medical
community were in meshed in conventional Healthcare and just doing things the same way and that was not where I wanted to be anymore so I knew I needed to surround myself with new influences with people and ideas even routines that would support this new version of myself so I began seeking out new communities and reading inspiring books and curating an environment that reflected where I wanted to go not where I had been this shift in my surrounding made an enormous difference and really supported me as I made this big shift in identity so think about
the people that you spend time with and the media that you consume and even the physical spaces that you inhabit are they aligned with the future that you're building if not it might be time to make some changes seek out relationships and content and resources that encourage and inspire you create a space that makes you feel like the person that you are becoming so to give it a name to this step step six is to curate a reinforcing environment you could start by creating a vision board that reflects your future self or curating a playlist
that uplifts and motivates you surround yourself with books and podcasts or communities that align with your values and goals your environment should be a reflection of the life that you're building so be intentional with what and who you let in now all of these steps are powerful on their own but they will only work if you fully commit to this new identity Reinventing yourself isn't something that just happens it's a choice and a commitment that you make every day and that choice begins now as Aristotle said we are what we repeatedly do Excellence then is
not an act but a habit reinvention is not a onetime event it's a journey and with each step and each choice and each tiny habit you are building the future that you have always wanted so here's my challenge to you in in the comments share one step that you're taking today to start your journey commit to it and let this be the year that you rewrite your story and if you want some more help with this don't forget to download my free workbook again the link is in the description if you enjoy this video you
might be interested in the video that I am going to share on the very next screen which is where I go into a lot more detail about my own personal Journey that led me to leaving my career in medicine there were three key things that I learn learned on that journey and I think that you are going to find them pretty interesting I will see you there so let's Dive Right In The Secret oops no so that you can believe yourself to be the kind of is does that make sense so I can believe yourself
yes believe yourself to be okay okay oh 1% battery I made it
