14 Comments
User's avatar
Sheilah's avatar

I just tried this and it worked wonderfully for my transition to a health coach. Thank you! Also made me realize that I need to do this several times to capture different aspects that are part of this new being.

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Dear Sheilah: Amazing! Congrats on taking action!!!! I just love, love reading when readers actually do the exercise and how surprised they are by the results. Cheering you on! Keep sharing your wins!

Chris Peden's avatar

This brought a lot of clarity to me. Like you, I had been doing the work, but never shifted my identity.

I will be doing this in 2026!

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Dear Chris: I'm so happy to hear that you've got clarity and are taking the next steps and in action! You are spot on - shifting identity, it's so key in this work. Cheering you on and can't wait to read about your experiences!

veronica vee's avatar

This is important and gratefully received 🪷 i am an artist and will do this and report back, definite "a-ha", thanks for writing 🏵

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Wonderful! I can't wait to hear! Cheering you on, M

Tom Lipinski's avatar

Excellent post.

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Dear Tom: I'm so glad that it resonated with you and that you got valued out of it!

Kisane Slaney PhD's avatar

This is so helpful Magdalena - a real clarification. I’ve done the exercise, and felt a real shift. Thank you 🙏

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Dear Kisane: I'm so happy that you took action, experienced results and saw things shifting for you! Cheering you on, M

Mary Belgrave's avatar

Much of your focus is on getting jobs or projects going; this is not my problem. I am pretty creative and get practical and artistic stuff done. But does your system work when tackling personal relationship issues? Much harder I think.

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Dear Mary: I love this question! Let me answer by using and example. One of the readers recently shared that she wanted to have a better relationship with her mom. I'm not going to go into details of the her current situation but let's just say that they have been having a rocky relationship. Via the 20 min exercise she wrote out the scene in 6 month where she was having dinner with her mom and was able to have a heart to heart conversation. She included the question of what kind of daughter do I get to be? and in her description she engaged all the senses and made it so real that when I read it I was crying...hope that helps! Cheering you on, M!

Mary Belgrave's avatar

Thank you, your advice chimes with Ixcarus who also writes about neuroscience here. His point is to change our identity if we want to stop self-sabotage. For example, a family member is always complaining and my reaction is to be brought down. Now I don’t “ try” not to care; instead I decide to have a great day despite of the behaviour because “that’s who I am”.

Magdalena Ponurska's avatar

Dear Mary: that's a wonderful and powerful reframe. And I will definitely check him out. Cheering you on and can't wait to read about your experiences!