What happens to your identity the day you can no longer do the thing you built it on?

Dr. Andrew Fix reflects on a recent 5K to explore a question most people avoid. Are you measuring your worth against a version of yourself that no longer exists? He breaks down why running a race and comparing the result to an old personal record ignores everything that has changed along the way, from injuries and surgeries to the demands of raising a family. A little perspective changes the whole picture.

The conversation moves beyond running into something bigger. Why do so many people introduce themselves through a job title or a sport they used to play? Dr. Fix shares an analogy he loves, building your identity on a single role or activity is like standing on a football. It feels solid until the moment it isn't.

He also calls out a pattern he sees constantly in his practice. People say they used to play softball or throw the ball with their kids, but their shoulder or knee stops them now. Is that really the injury talking, or is it easier to hide behind an old identity than to do the work required to reclaim it?

This episode is a challenge to stop living through who you were and start paying attention to who you're becoming. What would change if you answered "What do you do?" with something other than your job?

Quotes

"Are you still living in the past, holding on to the things that you used to do and the person that you used to be? Or are you focused on who you are today and the person that you're becoming?" (00:34 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"We should lead with who we are and what we're becoming now. And we should also not try to have our identity wrapped up necessarily in the things that we do." (04:07 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"If you try to build your life foundation on top of a football, like on a football, that is a very wobbly foundation to try and stand on." (04:27 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"If your identity is wrapped up in I am this thing that I do, I am a football player, then that's going to be a very difficult thing when that is stripped away from you, however that happens." (05:32 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"That's also one of these same things where you're holding on to an identity of something that you're not, in a way, potentially because you're afraid of the truth." (07:28 | Dr. Andrew Fix)

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