How to Grow Your Identity

Getting out ahead of yourself to grow your identity can seem like an impossible concept. Yet it is so imperative for your overall growth. It is the pathway which takes you to the next level of your existence.

The idea of identity growth is often birthed from your wanting to grow who you are to receive the greater life that you deserve. This is all designed to provide you with a more fulfilled life experience. This wanting usually comes from an inner knowing that you can be so much more or do so much more than you are right now.

Here are my top 20 tips for identity growth.

1. Start with knowing you are enough and that you can be anything you desire. Accepting where you are at and going from there will lay the right foundation for growth. Know that expansion is wired into your DNA and it is inherently who you are. Accept yourself and all your flaws to kickstart the growing process.

2. Move away from toxic relationships. I'm talking about the kind where others do not value you or themselves. Set your sights on surrounding yourself with those who live lifestyles or have a character that you admire and are already operating from a place of greatness. (Galatians 5:22). If you cannot find any of these people, align with empowerment self growth leaders through podcasts, videos, and writings. Get to know them even if you cannot meet them in person. Learn what they know and apply it to your life.

3. Humility. This one is key. Even if you think you are stooping to serve, you are actually growing your ability for greatness. By engaging in acts of service, this takes your focus off yourself and puts you in a place of being useful to others which ultimately expands you. Giving back takes growing yourself enough to have something to give back.

4. Stay away from people, places, or things that remind you of a smaller version of you. This could be former lovers, a place where you were hurt, websites, face-book where you get sucked into others lives and feel low about your current circumstance, reminders of mistakes and anything in the past where you had failure. Contact with any of these will activate thought processes that make you step into a smaller version of yourself and keep you in a small place.

5. Own and acknowledge your greatness as you grow into the greater. Don't be afraid of what others might think. Acknowledge that you are on the path to greatness. Use words to reinforce your mindset. Speak greatness over yourself. Words of affirmation such as "You are wonderful", " You are confident", "You are amazing", "You are great", etc. This is an exercise that can be done in front of the mirror so the words reflect back to you. Speaking life and growth over yourself creates more growth.

6. Create a way for greatness through heart change. Going through a heart cleanse or healing process can create an opening for greatness to pour through you. This would involve forgiveness and practicing acknowledgement for what happened to you that created a broken heart or diminished version of yourself. Own what happened to you and process it so that you can step beyond it. Oftentimes brokenness can keep us in a stuck place or a place of creating more brokenness as a match to it. The more your heart heals, the less brokenness you carry with you, the more capacity you have for greatness.

7. Seek answers of how to grow. This is where your faith comes in. Have faith that what you ask for will be given to you. Then stay open minded as you are guided to answers on what to do and how to operate once you set the intention to grow. The answers are everywhere. You just need to be attuned and ready to receive when they show up in your life. It is up to you to decide what steps you want to take towards growth once you receive the insight.

8. Go beyond others expectations of you or the expectations that you have for yourself. Do not limit yourself. By setting limits on ourselves we stop our own growth. It could be a subconscious limit or an intentional one that we are aware of. Re-evaluate your expectations that you have set for yourself and be watchful of mental blocks that intercept to stop you when you are trying to grow.

9. Take responsibility for your appearance and what you are projecting outward. We must become a match to that which we are seeking. It starts with how you show up to others and what they might perceive of you. Change your wardrobe to that of where you are headed. Study those who are successes and the people you would like to follow for inspiration. Then adjust it to your own version. Your style can say a-lot about you. Consider how to use your appearance as a tool to attract a better tribe, customers, or those you want to roll with to level up.

10. Know your worth. Internally know and uphold your worth. If you do not believe anyone else can see your worth, don't worry about that. Keep the knowing of your worth close to you like a secret warrior as you step into the greater. No need to look to others for validation or your bank account to make judgement on your value. Strength comes when you do not allow others opinion’s to stop you or limit you on your destiny to greatness. Don’t try to prove to others who you are. They will know by your fruit of the spirit, your strength to overcome, and your testimony that comes after in attest your greatness.

11. Move to a mindset of abundance and gratitude for what you do have. Keeping in a state of abundance and gratitude elevates you to a higher state. This higher state helps you walk in greatness. Always bless others who have what you would want or else you will hold yourself at distance from it by your judgement of them. For example, if you see someone with nice things and hate on them for it, you stop the greater from flowing your way.

12. Envision yourself as this grown identity and do everything you can to align as close as possible to it. Make a list of all the attributes and characteristics of what being grown looks like. Having a vision is very important to the growth process. It provides a map with an end goal for where you are headed.

13. Listen to God for direction. Guided wisdom of the ages and by others who have gone before us can be helpful on the journey. Often times it is that still small voice that speaks to us that will point us toward growth. The message can come in many ways. It can come through others, dreams, or external messages. Always be open to listening as this is how you can find ways to grow that is tailored special to you.

14. Go beyond your limits and assume greater risk to become the greater. Step out of your comfort zone and do what you are afraid to do. Being in a state of fear or complacency will never get you anywhere. Taking bigger risks can get you bigger results. Risk the embarrassment if it grows you. Risk giving to receive the greater. Risk being mocked and your reputation being picked apart by those who do not understand you or your journey. It is worth the risk to grow because eventually you get to a place where others wish they could be and they can never attain because they are not willing to take risks.

15. Know what growth feels like so when you experience it you can create more of it. At every turning point in our lives there comes a moment in which we acknowledge that we have grown or something has grown us. In that moment remember how you feel and celebrate it or try to recapture it. This will bring more opening for awareness and growth and the feeling that comes with expansion.

16. Get outside addictions and soul ties that keep you in a bound place. When we are addicted to something, this creates limitations on our soul which ultimately effects its ability to expand. Oftentimes one can become dependent on addictions to feed emotional needs. This makes us dependent on the external instead of independent and free to grow. Soul ties to other people and things can also keep us in a shattered small place.

17. Tune into areas of your life that need to grow. A self evaluation or evaluation of ourselves made by others will help us pinpoint areas in which we may need to grow. It is always good to keep aware of our progress and do whatever we can to get to the next level. It can be humbling to have others point out ways we can improve yet it is so helpful for our growth.

18. Be intentional about growing every day. Do not let a day go by without growth. Whether it is a new experience that you can draw back upon, or it is a new perspective or philosophy that you can apply to your life, seek to grow every day in every way. Glean from wherever you are the lessons and new ideas that you can apply to create growth. You can even glean from the bad circumstances and create motivations that will propel you into the greater.

19. Acknowledge what is keeping you in a small place. Bring to light anything stopping you from growth. It could be a mindset, a habit, a belief system, or something in your life that is holding you back. It could even be something that happened to you that makes you hesitant to move toward growth you deserve. When you make this acknowledgement, you bring to light what is and this frees you from it's ability to have a hold on you or control you. (John 8:32)

20. The purpose of joy, love, and acceptance. Last but not the least is the ability to stay in a state which allows growth. Joy is the ever expanding state. It is the one way you can attain growth the fastest. Love is another state. Being in a state of purest love disbands blocks and creates ways for ease and movement. Movement supports growth. Love and acceptance go hand in hand.

What are some other ways you can grow? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Check out Sarah's blog for other great tips and ideas to accelerate and up-level your life. www.sarahalexisdean.com