It has been a few weeks since I saw the movie “Becoming”. Several words that Michelle said stuck with me and more importantly her energy continues to linger on as soon as I visualize the movie. In the midst of the documentary, she said something about needing to ‘Become’ the person who could truly support her family, husband, and herself. It was a passing statement and not much about it was earth-changing at the time I heard it. It just stayed.

This morning, as I was focusing on my morning ritual, the jigsaw puzzle came together as if it had been there already, just waiting for me to put the context and the words together.

All through the movie, Michelle talks about her personal transformation story, her roots and leaves you awestruck with her narrative. One thread is common though. The notion that at every phase of her life she was ‘Becoming’. Transforming endlessly from one version of herself to a more aligned, improved, or even higher version of her existence. It’s a simple concept.

She didn’t wake up as a lawyer or a mom one fine day and tell herself she was going to the first lady. It was a series of many milestones and sub-goals and baby steps and experiences that led her to be the inspirational legend that she is for women all over the world. Obvious, isn’t it? What’s more important to note though is the consistency and perseverance through the entire journey of constantly being hungry for change and betterment.

Tons of self-improvement books abide by this simple truth. Design your goals. Think about how you’re going to achieve them with an action plan and then put yourself to the grind and execute. Until now though, I hadn’t realized one small detail.

By designing a goal, action plans and mindlessly focusing on outcomes, we trick ourselves into thinking that progress is around the corner, and in some cases, we achieve it too. But, we rarely look underneath the hood to assess what is truly happening.

As we wake up each day, we follow through with a plan, some days work well and some days are arduously long and difficult. Most of us are laser-focused on outcomes and achievements. But, rarely do we tap into that higher-level thinking and question our minds,

‘Who am I becoming today?’

We focus on doing or blindly executing, we focus on the fear-mongering news, social media conversations, we focus on the actions for the day and on and on goes the tide — high and low. How often do we stop, look at the blue skies and wonder,

‘Who have I become? Am I headed in the right direction?’

And in that becoming lies the key to achieving. If we think of our journey in life as a path to becoming and achieving the many different improved/aligned versions of ourself then, the achievements and goals all seem a lot more intuitive. If we think of our journey as an upstream battleground, constantly proving to the world and to ourselves then, the steps towards these goals feel measured and artificial. Telling myself, I am an author doesn’t feel truly magical or transformative. When I tell myself, I’m Becoming An Author; I’ve now suddenly released the same endorphins that I felt when I was first in college, becoming an engineer.

So what’s the point? Just a simple mind shift. Think of this journey through 2020 as a path to being someone more aligned with a longer-term vision for yourself and to be conscious that with everything that’s changing around us in today’s economic and social conditioning, we have the choice to be the leader of who we’re ‘Becoming’ for our lives. And that it starts with each one of us, every single morning.