“The fastest way to become the person you want to be is to put yourself in situations where the hard way is the only way,” Leila Hormozi.  With the topics the last few days, I don’t intend to suggest that this year is going to weigh us down more than others like we have a battle to fight or something.  These discussions are meant to provide the tools to guide us through the work we face now.  We have to look at the purpose of hard in a new way.  Challenge promotes growth as well as teaches us our limits.  It reframes our mindset around limits and capacity to keep going.  We need to challenge the brain to look at things in multiple ways so we see all options available to us.  Challenge keeps our mind sharp and agile.  If we tackle the hard then the little things will be a piece of cake.  In terms of becoming the person we want to be this means putting away the habits we know and learning new ones aligned with what we say we want.  If we take no action, we see no change, so we must act accordingly.  We all play characters every day whether at work, home, with friends for so many reasons.  We’re taught that the world won’t accept us as we are, we’re taught that what people think of us matters, we’re taught it’s easier to let the world think we are a certain way versus being a certain way.  I feel we’ve created a certain amount of animosity toward authenticity even though we know that’s what we’re all craving.  We all want the truth but the truth comes with repercussions including some hard paths. 

In regards to the roles we play, those who are most successful are those who refuse to play multiple roles.  They can still serve multiple purposes but they are always who they are.  They maintain their sense of integrity because they know their values—and they know THEIR value.  I was recently told that every act of integrity builds trust and it’s true.  The more aligned we are, the more consistent we are with all those around us regardless of the circumstance, the easier it is to behave in accordance with our values.  This means knowing our values but also maintaining that integrity to ourselves and practicing those values.  We need to recognize when we aren’t acting in alignment and know how to pivot.  That’s more difficult for some than others because of the characters we are taught to play.  Integrity starts with being honest with ourselves.  Get familiar with how we feel so we recognize when something is or isn’t right for us—when it isn’t a good fit or when we’re right where we should be.  Build integrity by sticking with the hard until we can handle it.  Build integrity by following through.  Sure we need to know when to quit but that doesn’t mean quit just because it got hard.  Staying aligned shows us what we’re really made of, especially when times get tough.  Face that and welcome the version of ourselves we’ve been waiting for.