Ryan NisbetOperations, Delphi · Operations at Delphi

How do I become the person I want to be? (with Emily McDonald aka emonthebrain)

5 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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0:41

Emily McDonald explains the "act as if" principle: to become who you want to be, start labeling yourself that way now. Your brain aligns your behavior with how you identify yourself, so calling yourself an author or podcaster before you feel ready actually works. Be careful with labels though, since careless ones can hold you back.

Chapters

Act like you already have it, like you already are it. When you fall asleep at night, you lay down, you close your eyes, you slow your breath, and you pretend like you're asleep until you fall asleep, and your brain makes it so. And life works that way as well. You have to act like it and move like it. So how do I apply that? From my book example, I really just decided I'm an author. Like, from this moment forward, I'm an author. And I think a lot of times we don't realize the power that we have to choose those sorts of things. This is another reason why I tell people to be so careful about the labels that they use to identify themselves and the labels that they put on themselves. And applying that practically, a lot of times it really just looks like choosing to identify as that version of you. Um, like if I'm trying to start a podcast, I am a podcaster.