How Do You Identify with Your Identity?
Part 1: Introducing the Identity Helix™
An anecdote before we dive into this bear of an article; a bear because it’s 2.5x longer than average—but, it’s a brown bear…a nice bear, a cute bear. 🐻 So have no fear.
I’m in Spain for the month, a country I absolutely love. Although what I don’t love is that I barely speak Spanish despite being born in Mexico (mi padre es mexicano). There’s always this interesting tension between sensing that my soul knows Spanish, but my tongue doesn’t. This environment, this culture (while so familiar) sometimes feels a bit alienating because my soul knows what my body can’t express…inviting me to consider the topic of identity.
And I imagine I'm not alone in navigating the tensions of identity, because we're all born with an innate essence of self—which is continuously influenced by the cultures and experiences we move through.
With that, let’s talk identity…
Fun fact: Invisible Wealth is rooted in a single idea—our definition of wealth is evolving, alongside our concept of self.
Wealth
If you’re familiar with my work, then you’re familiar with the fact that the word wealth came into our lexicon in the mid-13th century, born from the root word wele—or weal, depending on the source—but ultimately meaning well-being. Therefore, wealth found its definitional roots in well-being, and embodied an essence of happiness and human flourishing, which had nothing to do with money, per se. Although over time, the definition of wealth narrowed and became synonymous with money and material possessions—with a focus on currency, capital, and cars. There are evolutionary reasons for this (due to technological advancements and societal shifts, which I discuss in my book).
That said, definitions can evolve over time. And today, we’re expanding the definition of wealth to extend beyond the dollar—reclaiming a richer meaning. This is the new wealth paradigm. This is what Invisible Wealth is all about—a higher octave interpretation of wealth.
With this in mind, let’s map this thinking onto a different topic: the topic of self.
Self
The definition of words can evolve over time due to the changing world around them; similarly, the identities of people can evolve, too, for the same reasons. Because as it turns out, people—like words—are often a product of their environment, or at least influenced by their environment. I touch on this in my TEDxBoston talk (at 3 min 45 sec).
Said differently, people—like words—are born into the world with an innate essence and over time, their identities—like definitions—can evolve. We come into this world with our own unique expression of being. Although over time, the concept of identity narrowed and flourishing became synonymous with acquiring money and material possessions—with a focus on titles, total comp, and trophies.
This invites the question: how do you identify with your identity?
To answer this question, let’s consider both the evolution of self and the evolution of wealth, because they both influence the evolution of identity—particularly during this time of exponential change.