Allowing yourself to become the next version of you
Written by Alex Poeter
Do you ever feel like you’re stuck, unable to move forward on your personal goals? I’ve found that one of the biggest reasons for this is our attachment to who we’ve become. That is, our ego has invested so much in our current identity - our current ideas, what we believe to be true, and what others have come to expect from us - that it resists letting go of what it has worked so hard for. However, if we want to tap into the next layer of our potential and allow ourselves to grow, we have to be willing to let go of our current sense of identity.
And yet, letting go of our current identity is hard. Our survival instincts are so deeply ingrained that the fear of losing status or being judged can prevent us from letting go of who we’ve become. It can trigger fears in us about what others might think of us if we change. We might wonder, “Will others still think I’m a reliable leader, colleague and friend if I change?”
What’s more is that we’ve been able to derive a sense of security from who we’ve become. Our current identity is so familiar to us that the thought of changing into something new will likely feel uncomfortable and trigger a fear of the unknown.
The promise of letting go of our “current self” so that we can become who we’re called to be, however, is that we can become an even better version of ourselves. Being open to continued growth allows us to keep becoming even better leaders, colleagues, friends, partners, parents, and whatever other roles we want to play. That to me is what it means to keep living more fully into our true potential.
Wouldn’t you say that you’re a better leader, colleague and friend today than you were ten years ago? If that’s true:
What’s the next version of you that you’re growing into? Who are you becoming?
What parts of your current identity do you need to let go of so you can grow into this next version of you?
What expectations do others have of you that might be keeping you stuck, and that you need to let go of?
Letting go of who we are today so that we can become the next version that’s emerging allows us to step into a realm of new possibilities and opportunities. Letting go of opinions and ideas we’ve been attached to allows us to invite in new opinions and ideas from others. This helps us to forge new and deeper existing connections with others. And if we become more open-minded and openhearted by detaching ourselves from who we’ve been, we can serve others at a higher level, enjoy greater professional success, and create a bigger impact.
Are you ready to step into the unknown parts of yourself that you’ve never seen? And can you allow yourself to trust that transitioning into the new version of you will serve you, others and our world?