How to Become Who You're Meant to Be. Lessons from John Maxwell. For the Introspective Introvert

Ever feel like there’s a version of you waiting to emerge but fear, doubt, or comfort is holding you back? This episode is for the introspective introvert who wants to be more.

In this episode, I read a powerful excerpt from Today Matters by John C. Maxwell and share a deeply personal story about how a simple mindset shift began a major transformation in my life.

We talk about:

• Why change starts in the mind
• The tension between comfort and calling
• And the one question that can shift everything: Are you ready to close the gap between who you are and who you want to be?

You can’t wish your way into success. You have to become the kind of person who can carry the life you dream of.

If you're an introspective introvert dreaming of more, more growth, more purpose, more impact, this is your gentle reminder: you can start today.

Transcript

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Hi friend. Have you been enjoying the excerpts I've been sharing with you on the podcast over the last few episodes? If you have, I encourage you to please let me know. You can email me at thedrivenintervet at chipark.com. And you can also share any books you love, maybe you've been loving, or a new one you've been reading, and what you're learning from it. I would love to hear from you. Let's make this a two-way conversation. All right. I have been sharing quotes and excerpts from some of my favorite books. I invite you to listen along as we pull insights from these authors for a more intentional and fulfilled life. This episode I'll be reading from Today Matters by John C. Maxwell. The subtitle of this book is Twelve Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success. Here's an excerpt. Think, act, talk, and conduct yourself like the person you want to become. If you've been to any kind of class reunion 10 or more years after graduation, then you've probably been surprised by the transformation of one of your former classmates. The misfit who became a famous lawyer, the plain Jane who blossomed into a movie star, or the geek who founded a major corporation. How do such transformations occur? Those people changed how they thought of themselves. You saw them as they were, or how you thought they were. They saw themselves as they could be. Then they learned to act like and acquire the skills of the people they wanted to be. The transformation usually takes time. Often it's barely noticeable to those who see them every day, just as parents don't see changes in babies the way others do. But to someone who hasn't seen them in 10, 20, or 30 years, the transformation seems miraculous, like a butterfly from a caterpillar. If you desire to change yourself, then start with your mind. Believe you can improve, then you can change into the person you desire to be. Walt Emerson said, what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. If your thinking changes, then everything else can follow. I love this a lot. I actually, a few days ago, as at the time of this recording, I shared a post on Instagram that had to do with something like this. And I'm gonna share that post here and I'll talk a little bit about why this is so important. I found out, this is the quote that I shared, I found out why we struggle to do new and big things that feel out of reach. We want to be alike, we want to be safe. Our brain is wired to protect us from risks, from straying too far away from the pack, from being different. Unfortunately, we need to do the opposite of those things in order to achieve anything of statistical significance. The result? Dilemma, existential crisis, the long messy middle, mind messery. The big question is: will you close the gap between who you are and who you can be? I love this question of becoming who you can be. Because it is such a crucial part of transformation and growth and development that you cannot run away from it. If you find yourself afraid of what is possible in your life, what is possible in the future, because of the work that is required of you, then you're not really ready for growth. You're not ready for leadership, you're not ready to uh improve your life, you're not ready to maybe even become wealthy. Because all of these things require that you become a certain kind of person who can succeed at whatever it is you want to do. It requires that. There's no way around it. When you look at people who have made something of themselves, who have done something uh maybe significant, maybe with their careers, with their health, with their families, with their job, with their businesses, with themselves, like their personal development, whatever it is, it took time, it took effort, it took a lot of challenges for them to be able to get there. And it starts with the mind. It starts with how do you think of yourself? Do you believe you are the kind of person that can succeed at the things you really want to succeed at? If you believe it, then you would take steps to actually be that. But if you don't, then you're playing small. It's just that simple. And I know that this is um it can be a different uh mindset, like a difficult mindset to adopt if you're not used to thinking that way, if you're not used to stretching yourself, it will be hard for you. It will be certainly hard for you. But I believe anyone can make that change, anyone can make that transformation. I certainly had to make that transformation. I remember um telling my sister, and I I might have told this uh story on the podcast before, telling my sister when I was working at a mag a management consulting company in Lagos, Nigeria, and um my boss at the time um resigned, and it was left to me to step into his role, and I didn't want to do it. It wasn't fun for me to want to do that. And I remember telling her, like, I just want to just be like every other person because I used to hang out in my friend's office, they were in the IT department, and it was fun. I will hang out and we would talk and just, you know, have fun. And I'm like, I want to do that, like I don't want to step into this role. And she looked me in the eye and said, Then it means you're not ready for greatness. And I'm like, oh my gosh, okay, I do want to be great. Does that mean I have to learn to accept these challenging things? If I want to be great, if I want to do something significant with my life, and the answer is yes. And I'm glad she told me that because I guess somewhere in my mind I knew it, that for you to do anything, anything that is worth it, it will be hard, it will be challenging, but you have to decide you're going to do it. So this is my challenge for you today. Think about the things that you've dreamt about, the things that you thought it'll be nice for me to do this or go there or be that. And then think about what it would take for you to actually do it. And decide in your mind if you are ready to do it or not. And the truth is, it is fine if you decide that I don't want to reach for too much, like I don't want to reach for too much, I'm fine where I am, it's okay, I'm good, I'm happy, I have what I need, and I'm good. That's noble. It's knowing what you desire and staying within the limits of that. But if at any point you think about the things you want to do and you're like, I really, really want to do those things, then it's time to level up. It's time to put in the work. And like um Jean Maxwell says here, people may not notice the transformation in you if they're close to you, if they see you every day or frequently. And that doesn't mean it's not happening. You just have to focus on the work, the inner work that needs to be done, focus on that, and tune out everything else that might uh distract you. It's very important that you desire and also do something about that desire. So if you want to change yourself, like he says, it starts with your mind. Are you that person who is ready to step into that role or into the shoes of the person who's who can succeed at the things you're wanting to succeed at, then be that person. Take that step every day, no matter what is required. Even if it's hard, you can do it. I am sitting here at my desk recording this podcast, and today it has been especially hard for me. It's been a very hard day. It is 17 minutes past 11 at night. I am tired, but I made a commitment to myself that I will record this podcast because it is important to me, because talking to you and providing these um nuggets and ideas and concepts is important to me. And as challenging as it is, I've committed to doing it. And I think that's the step that we all need to take with whatever it is that we desire. So I just want to encourage you today, be that person who can succeed at the things you want to succeed at. All right. I hope that encourages you as you go into your week, your day, whatever it is that you're gonna face, um, you can do it. You can close the gap between who you are and who you want to be. All right, thank you so much for listening. I would love to hear from you. If this encouraged you at all, please send me a message. And if you have any wonderful books that you love that you want to share a quote or an excerpt from, I would love to hear it. Send me an email to thedrivenintrovert at shepark.com. All right, thank you so much for listening to this one, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoy this conversation, please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the podcast. I'd also love your feedback on this episode. You can scroll down on your app and click write a review. I'd love to read your takeaways from this conversation. As always, don't forget to take courage, trust God, and go pursue your big ideas. See you next time. The Dreven Introvert is produced by Sheepack.com and Remy Roy. Want to ask a question or share a comment on a future episode? Click on the link in the show notes to record your question in a voicemail.