A few years ago I switched my business name from SaFire Training to my name Andrea Claassen. Why the change? My new identity is going to be geared towards online personal training and Ayurvedic Wellness Coaching. I’ve learned so many lessons this past year since becoming a mom. Some were pretty intense, others were life changing. From this transition I’m working on creating my own Peaceful Power Practices. The habits I believe in to help you live an aligned life. I will be discussing this more as the year unfolds. I will also be sharing some of the most personal things that occurred this past year in an upcoming podcast once I can fully formulate my message to better help other women who might have went through something similar.
Onto today’s topic we are going to start off with a few questions:
- What is your identity?
- Who do you believe you are?
- What does the world think of you?
How did you come up with your identity for yourself?
Typically we start to give ourselves labels at a very young age-such as I’m a girl, I’m smart, I like dolls, I love basketball. Some of the labels stick and become who we identify ourselves as.
For example I started my life as an athlete. I played 3 sports in high school & college. Basketball was my favorite sport that was who I identified myself to be. I was the girl who loved the Timberwolves and also was a talented basketball player. Going into my junior year of college I started really disliking basketball. I disliked our coach and didn’t see eye to eye with her she started playing mind games with us and treated us poorly. I was starting to hate the game and was also playing soccer & tennis as well at a small division 3 school.
I’m not getting paid or going to be playing in the WNBA so I decided to quit right before we were to start the season. For those who played basketball you know it’s a long season. I had a quick identity crisis of trying to figure out who I was now. Somehow I turned to fitness even more and read How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci. That changed my world. It made me think in an entirely new way. I found my creative side and stepped into a new me. I had to shed my I’m just a basketball player identity to become so much more.
Think now to the identity that you labeled yourself at a young age. Do you like that label? Is it something that if I look at your daily habits I would be able to see yes that is who you are, or do you have a few things to shift.
What have you been telling yourself these past years that have been creating your habits?
Do any of the following sound like you.
- I don’t have enough time to workout, create my business, go to yoga, be at home
- I have to check my email in the morning. I could miss something really important
- I need to stay up to midnight, I’m night owl
- I don’t have time to eat lunch
- I can’t go to that workout class I’m just not that into workout out with other people and I’m afraid I will look silly
- I don’t like Brussel sprouts
- I can’t eat early lighter dinners
- I’ve tried meditating it just doesn’t work for me
All of these are long standing patterns of the mind and lack of awareness of what your body needs. We continuously think of things to stop us from achieving what we might truly want for ourselves.
I waited almost 8 years before I took a 200 hour yoga teacher training because I didn’t think I was "yoga enough" to go through it. That was my story for many years. I’m sure you can think of one identity that you truly want or are deep in your heart but you're afraid to show the world that side of you. When I added yoga to my repertoire I was afraid to use mala beads at first or even use some of the language yoga uses.
As a personal trainer there are certain stigmas that your suppose to have - tough love, drill sergeant, but I found myself the opposite end of the spectrum and was so much more into finding the effort & ease with your workout routines. Not having such rigged rules to follow to how to create the physique you want.
How do you start letting the world see who you really are?
One way I like to think of this is in 3 layers your identity, your habits, and how the world sees you.
First to step into the identity you want to become you need to own that truth.
For me it was saying I am a yoga teacher period. I might not be as flexible as other teachers but those are the women I want to show the benefits you can get from a mind body connection with yoga. So the next step after you have found your identity your changing your habits to go with this new identity.
Example I started studying Ayurveda even more in-depth to become an expert in that area of yoga. That is what I gravitated towards those were the habits I wanted to incorporate into my life. I have started doing early lighter dinners, early to bed early to rise, 20 minutes of movement, meditation daily, evening routine. I have been consistently working on those habits for a few years now. Most days of the week they happen and that is what matters.
Once you show the world your new habits that is when the world starts to see you different. Why should you care if the world sees you different? You shouldn’t but we are human and we do. We like to put people into categories. We know the friends to call if we need a good shoulder to cry on, we know the friends to call who will kick our butts, we know the friend to go to if we want a workout buddy.
This is the start of your introduction to the world of your new identity. I’ve had numerous clients after starting workout programs leave their jobs to start their own business. To me that is incredible. One simple shift in their identity can open up new doors they never even realized were possible.
Let me know how this resonated with you this week over on Instagram.
My challenge to you this week
I want you to track your current habits and create a list of what you want to achieve a year from now.
28 Day Ayurvedic Toolkit
Start a new habit using Ayurvedic tools. Download the 28 day guide below.
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