Am I a NOUN or a VERB?

I am an athlete

I am strong

I am a size 8

I am an inspiration (?)

All of these statements describe who I am or who I want to be. They are also NOUNS - words that name a person, place, thing or idea. They are labels that mean different things to different people.

I am no longer defining myself by a label. I am re-framing the way I see myself in terms of action. I am replacing NOUNS with VERBS - words that express existence, action or occurrence.

I lift weights, run and move a lot.

I lift heavy things in the gym and in daily life. I conquer physical, mental and emotional challenges.

I follow a nutrition plan that is built around monitoring calories, whole foods, and the right mix of protein, carbohydrates and fat.

I live authentically and honestly and openly share my unique life experience with others.

Now I have performance goals rather than outcome goals. The best thing about performance goals is that are completely under my control. I can choose to show up, commit, improve, enjoy and master my actions and no person or circumstance can stop me.

Think about how you see yourself. Do you have I am statements? Try replacing them with I do statements instead. If you get stuck try adding because I ...

I am a figure competitor because I ...
I am fantastic because I ...
I am maintaining my weight loss because I ...

Ladies and Gents - give me your VERBS.