Growing Up Towards Your Ideal Self

grow up ideal self kids passion who you want to be Nov 23, 2021

When we were young, we always got asked the question, "Who do you want to be when you grow up?" But now, as we've grown into our adult selves, have you ever noticed how no one is asking you that question anymore? Yanet Borrego brings us back to thinking the same way as our younger selves, digging deeper into who we are and the things we're really passionate about. She asks that question again to us, reflecting on who could guide us as we grow more into our ideal self. Join Yanet in this episode as you rediscover who you are.

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Growing up Towards Your Ideal Self

Welcome to episode number nine of the show. I want to ask you a question. Who do you want to be when you grow up? I'm going to ask you another question. When was the last time that someone asked you that? I go through this process with my coaching clients all the time. It's one of the most challenging questions we can all get because we are not used to thinking that way anymore.

When we were kids, maybe when we were 8 or 9 years old, we used to get that question all the time. Dreams were allowed at that age, “Who do you want to be?” I remember growing up in Cuba. I always felt so inclined for poetry, and not only poetry but writing on exploring the human emotions and how people feel, why they took decisions or the decisions they were taking. What was the intention?

You're in charge of your mind. If you're in charge of your mind, you're also in charge of your results.

I used to read a lot of poetry and books of sorts, even when I was very young. I think back and it's crazy. One of the books that I read is called Mastery by Robert Greene. He always says, "If you want to find your passion, go back to when you were a child." I couldn't agree more because now that I think back to when I was a child, everything that I felt at that moment is what I feel now.

I am deeply passionate about helping people live life on their own terms, live their dreams, discover their purpose, and find their purpose. I am a romantic at heart. I still love poetry and I love writing. Looking back on those childhood years in Cuba and looking back at me now in the United States, even in different locations, it feels that my why remained the same.

Part of this process is digging deeper and asking yourself more and more questions. As I mentioned before, gaining clarity through action. Start discovering what your passions are. One of the things that I always tell my clients and people is you know that it's a passion when you start working on that even you're tired. You end up being more energized than when you started. That's how you know it's your passion.

I know because I feel that all the time with my coaching clients. Sometimes I'm tired. I've worked a lot already and I have a session and I'm like, "These client's goals pumped me up." Even the challenge that we're having mentally or emotionally. The fact that we were able to discover the deeper root cause. That makes me excited and feel the passion that allows me to wake up every morning to keep doing this. The passion allowed me to transition from my eight years of a successful corporate career to being a full-time entrepreneur and helping people live their dreams.

I wouldn't have done that if I wouldn't believe that each one of you has a purpose. Not only with that purpose, but living aligned to that, you can impact so many lives. I'm telling you these from my heart because often I see people thinking that life is happening to them. Whatever is happening in the world, they don't have any influence on the outcome.

I'm here to tell you that you're in charge of your mind, which you are. If not, you wouldn't be here reading this. Because you're in charge of your mind, you're also in charge of your results. You just need to find the right tool or maybe hack into your conscious and unconscious mind to make it happen, and awareness helps a lot.

Questions are the key tools to make you get there. I wanted to talk to you about purpose because I want you to start thinking deeply. Who is the person that you want to be when you continue growing up? We assume that once we reach adulthood, we stop growing up and dreaming. We went to school and we got our jobs, and that's what we are supposed to do for the rest of our lives until we retire. We then retire and that's when maybe you can start getting curious about what you're passionate about.

I know some people are passionate about their work, wherever they are right now. That's amazing. That makes me feel so happy. In my experience, there are many people I interacted with in different environments that were not happy with where they were at in life, mainly around the career area. Let me tell you something. How you behave in one area, you behave in the rest.

How you behave in one area, you behave in the rest.

If you act in your career like you don't have a say or you don't have a hand at your reality, you probably act the same in the other areas. I know you don't want to be that person. You want to take control and responsibility for change because you have that potential in you to make your dreams happen. The question about, who do I want to be when I grow up? It is very important because that question defines your bigger why.

I'm not saying, what do you want to be doing when you continue growing up? I'm asking, who do you want to be? When you answer that question, answer it in a way that is surrounded by the being energy. When I did this exercise for myself, one of the things that I was thinking and I’m going to say this in the present, I am a giving person. I am a person who is deeply connected with her purpose and allows that purpose to guide every decision in my life.

I also said what I was if that was my career because that's a big focus in my life. I'm a coach, speaker and trainer helping others see their own lights so they can work in their own path. That is the person I want to be when I grow up. I know I'm continuing to growing up. I know like you are. A lot of those things don't change, but it is important for you to get clear on who is the person that you want to be as you continue growing. That person that you want to be is going to guide everything else in your life.

For example, I said, "I am a coach, speaker and trainer. I help others see their own lights so they can live their dreams." That's the person that I want to be. Every decision that I take in my life, I look at that person and ask myself, "Is this aligned with that ideal self? Is this aligned with the person I desire and strive to be?"

This is one of the reasons why I decided to transition from my corporate job. I was happy. I loved the environment and people. I knew that was not my purpose. I knew that my purpose was to be here with all of you to help you see life in a different way. To help you see life as the canvas that you have in front of you. You are the artist so you can draw whatever you want and you can make it happen.

That is my purpose and for me, defining who I wanted to be in the future, my ideal self truly helped me. Being able to make decisions that align more with who I am. When I looked at that ideal self and I said to myself, "Is my corporate career going to help me get there?" I stayed in corporate for eight years because I learned a lot. A lot of it helped me arrive at where I am right now and there is a limit to that.

There is a limit where you feel confident and congruent to make the transition you want to make in your life. For me, that limit was eight years. It wasn't even a limit I had set. It's funny because I had said before joining consulting, "I'm going to be here in two years, and whenever I leave consulting, my corporate job, I'm not going to go to another company. I'm going to live my dream," because that's the dream I had been dreaming of for eight years.

Often, I hear people say, "Yanet, I don't know what that is for me." You know. You just need to ask yourself more questions and gain the confidence to explore, get curious and take action. When I knew that was my why, I didn't know the form that why was going to become a reality. When I say the form, I mean coaching, speaking and training. I knew that I loved people and I loved helping people. Since I was in a situation that was not ideal for me because I wasn't happy and fulfilled, I knew there had to be a way.

As I walked that journey, continued gaining clarity and started to learn more about my mind, I started to get the skills, experience, coaching, speaking and training expertise in order to guide others in the same direction. That's what made me passionate. I said to myself, "If I can do it, others can do it. If I can do it and then others can do it, I will love to help others to get there." That was my main purpose.

As you define the person you want to be, you have a lot more tools to make decisions in your everyday life, which are aligned to that purpose. When you start doing that, you start feeling like you have more control of your life. Whatever has been imposed around you or expected of you, you also have a decision to put that to the side if it's not aligning with the person who you want to be, your ideal self or your ideal avatar as my teacher would say.

You have this amazing tool. I use this tool with all my clients. I do it with myself. Every year, I think of the person who I want to be and I update it if something has changed. The core of it stays the same. As I mentioned, since you were a child until now, you know what it is. What I find a lot of people struggle with is starting to take action.

Life is the canvas that you have in front of you, and you are the artist.

You know what it is. I want you to be as empowered as possible so you can take control of your own life and live your dreams because it is possible for you. The question at the end of the episode is, who do you want to be when you grow up? Let that answer guide the rest of the decisions you're taking. I hope you enjoyed this episode. You got this. I believe in you.

Important Links:

FREE Resources:

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