The Importance of Redesigning Your Identity
Who are you?
Your identity is important because without it you are just a collection of cells and organs.
And it is important to design it yourself.
This is something I discussed in how to design your dream life
You can be what society gave you, or those around you need for you, or you can be the architect yourself, something far greater.
Explaining the Ship of Theseus with Emergence
The Ship of Theseus is an old thought experiment. Theseus returns from battle. His ship is preserved as a monument. Over time, planks rot and are replaced — one by one - until every single piece of original wood is gone.
This is the process of emergence, when 1+1 = 3.
And when you understand the nature of emergence, you start to see it everywhere.
Understanding the Nature of Emergence
In order to be a better entrepreneur, it’s necessary to understand the nature of emergence.
Your organs and cumulative experience and input come together to become something far more than they were before.
So how do you design your identity to become something far greater?
I’ve found the process of writing out your identity as a good exercise in clarifying where you are and where you are going to go.
Write out your new identity, and do it until you feel a pull.
Often if it feels heavy, it’s a sign it needs to be refined or re-written.
The best format is:
Who I am
What I do each day
Who I’m becoming
Some possible archetypes:
The builder, creator, rock, helper, giver
Specific goals can resolve your identity and tie things in
If you write it and feel a pull and resolution it’s a great sign.
But this is just one step, it’s no replacement to action.
Action gives you information and is a test of the theory of your new identity.
It can also help you uncover what the internal conflicts you have - the internal tug of war between yourself that many of us have, that show up in difficult decision making and conflicts.
The clarity you get from the new identity can show up cleanly.
And often the resulting clarity can see a new you in a much faster time than you can imagine.
This is a part of the emergence curriculum.
The Emergence Curriculum
Emergence is the idea that something new and unexpected arises from simpler parts coming together - and the new thing has properties that none of the individual parts have on their own.