Many people think to create a future vision or goal you need to HAVE-DO-BE. The HAVE-DO-BE mindset says that you start with having what you want, and this then allows you to do what you want which then leads to being a certain way. This thinking might lead a salesperson to think: if I had a nicer car, I would do more sales activities and therefore would be happier and more fulfilled. This way of seeing the world is flawed.

As Zig Ziglar says above, the opposite is true. We need to BE first. Our way of “being” then leads us to take action and therefore do. Through that action we get what we want — we have.

To create a future, you must start with BE, your identity, and that leads to action, DO, and finally getting an outcome, HAVE.

BE-DO-HAVE is the way the world works. We all need to be our values. That leads us to do, to act, in alignment with those “BEs.” Finally, by doing that consistently we have success. Said another way: your identity defines the actions you take.

The first thing we need to do is think about how we need to be. By starting with the ways of being we will get better results than thinking about what we need to do or have. Your actions flow naturally from your way of being. If you take on the way of being of a dictator you start acting like one. If you take on the way of being a collaborative leader, you seek advice and buy-in. Neither is inherently good or bad — at times you need to be a dictator. If the building is burning down you don’t say “let’s get buy-in on the exit to take.”

We each need to fulfill a role. To do that we should start with a declaration — declaring how we are going to be, what our identity will be. By calling this out and enrolling people in this way, we will get much better outcomes than if we try to tell them what to do or have.

By being committed to that and having it be part of my identity, the doing and having will flow from it in a less stressful and more authentic way. It opens new opportunities and options I hadn’t previously considered.

Another example that worked for me: I tried to quit sugar many times. Willpower. Cutting intake. Nothing worked. I was working at the level of doing or having, not identity. A mentor told me I should quit sugar — the way she said it changed my way of being, my identity. At that moment, my identity became someone who didn’t eat sugar. That was over four years ago, and I have not had refined sugar since.

Once my identity was defined as someone who does not eat sugar, checking labels and passing on that cookie just happened naturally. Focusing on the being is less stressful and more impactful.

I sometimes push ideas that are more “doing” type actions but am not connected to the being. When I connect to a way of being I get more powerful results with less effort.

I challenge you to think about your way of being. What identity will have the desired actions — and therefore results — flow from it? Who do you need to be to get the results you, your team, your company, your customers, and the world deserve?