How to Become More of Who You Want To Be
I’ve made some really big changes in the last couple of years. And all of these changes have required a concentrated effort of change, a willingness to be honest with myself, and a willingness to find solutions: even if they have been humbling.
I’ve had to get honest about my health.
I’ve had to get honest about the growth needed in my business.
I’ve had to get honest about insecurities that I had (and have) as a coach, a mentor, and a consultant.
I’ve had to get honest about the growth it will require of me to give my business what it needs.
I’ve had to get honest about how - even though I made a lot of health changes - I have not taking care of myself on a day to day basis with movement and exercise.
… you get the idea.
About 2 years ago, I started to see clearly the gap of where I could be, and where I was, and began to let myself be really, really uncomfortable with this.
I’m still not where I want to be.
But I can tell you that with the choices and decisions I’ve made in the last year, I am far closer than I used to be.
So, here is a 3 step framework to get closer to who you want to be:
1) Get incredibly (and uncomfortably) honest about where you are truly today.
Part of the changes I’ve made in the last year came from getting truly honest about myself as I stood that day.
A coach I worked with for a long time would quote to me that a leader’s number one responsibility is to define the reality. And if I’m going to do that for my team, I had to start doing that for myself.
I had - and have - a lot of growth to do.
But I was not able to start on that journey until I was willing to look at it clearly.
A couple years ago, I knew I needed to redefine my relationship with alcohol post-Covid. My habits were wildly out of sync with what I wanted my lifestyle to actually look like.
But nothing changed for me until I started tracking how many drinks a week I was having.
And when I saw that number for what it really was - I came face to face with the changes I needed to make. I could no longer hide behind this sentiment of “I know I should but…” When we take the reality and turn it into concrete metrics - concrete data - this forces us to face the truth.
(Side benefit: it also gives us something to create change against.)
2) Invest financially in a change.
This is my ultimate tip for you. When we invest financially in making a change, our behavior follows.
When I wanted to change my health, I started working with a company that does private bloodwork.
When I wanted to gain muscle, I started paying for a trainer.
When I wanted to get serious about my work, I paid for an app to block social media on my phone.
There are many things you can and should do to make changes that do not cost anything. But when we put money on the line and hedge a bet on ourselves for the change, we put ourselves in the position where not changing would cause more pain. Our egos are involved now - our wallets. We made a bet on ourselves, and now we risk letting ourselves down.
When I realize I’m not where I want to be in my business, the first thing I go out and do is put money into a program or into working with a coach. Do I think that this program or coach will magically solve the problems in my business? Absolutely not. I know I’ll have to do the work. I know I’ll have to learn.
But what will happen is that through my wallet, I claim this as an area I am committing to learning and growing.
3) Put yourself in proximity to others who have achieved the success you are looking for.
You’ve probably heard some version of the saying, that the best way to get fit is to get around fit people.
When we get around people who are achieving a higher level of success than us, it holds us to a higher bar than we hold ourselves to.
It raises the standard.
It creates a distinction between our behavior, and whoever we are around.
And it creates this gap, which we then have to reconcile.
And you may look at that gap and say “I am going to choose not to close this.”
But you may look at that gap and say, “I’ll be the one to bridge the distance.”
Then, we focus on continuing to elevate further and further to people who give us a new bar to rise to.
I recently started using “Whoop,” which is a health monitoring band. I did this because a friend and client, who will be a guest on the podcast in July, told me about it. But what she did that really got me to get onboard, was she sent me screenshots of her stats from within the app.
And from the little tracking I’ve done on my own sleep, my own step count, my own fitness, and my own stress monitoring - I can tell you: I immediately knew I was nowhere near her level.
Here’s the reality of when we put ourselves around people who are further ahead than us:
We can let that trigger our ego, and force us into shame and hiding
Or we can use it as inspiration to change.
When I saw her stats, it immediately reset the bar for me of what my new goals are for my health data, and gave me a grasp of the tool to get to get me there.
All because I got in the room with the right person.
^^^ So let’s pull all this together. If you aren’t satisfied with where you are today, right now, and you want to change - your 3 step method.
Get honest (and track it)
Put money towards your transformation
Get around people further along than you (and check your ego at the door)
As an invitation off of this episode, I’d love for you to post your thoughts on the transformation YOU are looking for in your life and tag me on social media.
Cheering you on every step of the way.
Michelle Kline is the founder of DogCo Launch, and the host of the DogCo Secrets Podcast. Michelle spends her time helping pet care companies in the industry grow and scale their teams, increase their revenue, and increase personal profits - all while protecting their time. Learn more about Michelle here.
Do you want to scale your pet care business? Consider joining us at the DogCo Business Summit - the first pet care conference focused exclusively on business scaling in this industry - September 26 - 28, 2025.