How many times in a day, week, month do we tell ourselves… “I want to be” or “I plan to be” blah blah blah. How many times in a day, week, month do we say “once I finish X” or “as soon as I complete” ray ray ray I will be a (blank space). What if what we were seeking to be was what we were and all that was required was to say ‘I am.’
Now clearly you can’t be ridiculous and go around saying shit like I am a doctor, or I am rich or I am a geologist when you actually aren’t even close to being any of those things (that is just straight up lying) – but what if we stopped aspiring to become something and instead recognized that we were the things that we were aspiring to be!
Today I will use myself as the example. As you know last month I embarked on a new journey to become a health coach. While I am only 4 weeks into my 6 month certification I would be lying if I said I have never been more sure that I have moved into my purpose, and though I am on this journey and confident that this was the path that I was to take, when I speak of where I am on this journey I find myself saying “I want to become” instead of “I am.” Yes I have not completed my certification and still have much learning to do, but yes I AM A HEALTH COACH. Speaking about myself in the active tense is uncomfortable because I feel like it implies that I have achieved the certification (which I have not) which therefore implies that I am not being truthful, but in fact I am being truthful because what I AM is a health coach. What I am doing is a certification in health coaching that will provide me with more tools in my tool box to better support those that I work with. Now my sentiments may seem like a semantic play on words but here is my question – how do we navigate our way to a single purpose if what we are seeking to become is not what we already are. I didn’t just randomly select health coaching from a rolodex of things that I wanted to add onto my already full plate. No. I moved into this path because health coaching is part of my core and something that I practice daily. My best friend who completed her certification as an event planner didn’t randomly select this avenue for shits and giggles, but formalized a passion that saw her legit event plan anything that had more than five attendees!
We need to stop chasing after our passion and purpose and acknowledge that we are living it and anything we do that aligns with our passion or purpose is to further empower, strengthen, build or certify what we are. West Indians love to tell you to speak things into existence so that what you are wanting can become your reality. But what we need to do is speak in the active tense so that those around us know who we are.
Speaking in active tense is hard AF because there is comfort in hiding behind time associated with “becoming something” but I am no longer becoming something… I AM A Health Coach.
