Staking your identity

Who you are and what you do.

📝 What happens when you stake your identity?

Last week a cafe owner asked me what I do for work, and for the first time in public I said “I’m a picture book illustrator”.

That said, “illustrator” is an identity that I had already adopted a year ago. Before I got an agent or my first book contract.

It was a series of little steps; updating twitter, getting a domain name, and the biggest step of all was updating my linked in profile. It was going out on a limb, saying no to a whole host of opportunities, so I could say yes to a chosen few.

When you do stake your identity:

1. Your habits and actions will start to reinforce your identity.

2. Your network will start to reaffirm your identity

3. Your reputation will grow as someone who does the thing you have chosen for yourself.

When you stake your identity, it can start to work for you. If you don’t then you’re still making a choice to stake your identity on nothing, or too many things.

If you’re not sure of yourself, how can someone else can be sure about you?

Thanks for reading!

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