The Person You Want to Be Already Exists

By the BeAwakeAwareAlive.com team

Close your eyes for a moment. Picture them. The person you want to be.

They are calmer. They handle stress with a quiet grace that you admire from afar. They are healthier, their body a testament to discipline and self-respect. They are more successful, not just in wealth, but in impact - their work matters, and people listen when they speak. They are kinder, more patient, and more present. They wake up with purpose and go to bed with a sense of peace. This ideal version of you feels solid, real, and yet impossibly distant. They are a fantasy, a future ghost, a destination you’re always traveling toward but never quite reaching.

We spend our lives chasing this person. We create vision boards, set New Year's resolutions, and promise ourselves that this time will be different. We read the books, buy the gym memberships, and download the meditation apps. We treat our ideal self like a skyscraper to be built from the ground up - a monumental construction project requiring years of arduous labor, perfect blueprints, and an unbreakable will.

But what if we have it all wrong? What if the person you want to be isn't a distant future to be built, but a present reality waiting to be uncovered? What if they aren't a ghost, but a sculpture trapped inside the marble of your current life? The person you want to be already exists. They are not a destination; they are a direction. Your job is not to construct them, but to reveal them.

The great sculptor Michelangelo was once asked how he created his masterpiece, the statue of David, from a massive, flawed block of marble. His answer was profound in its simplicity: "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." He didn't see a block of stone to be conquered; he saw the finished form waiting to be revealed. He understood that his job was not to add anything, but to remove everything that wasn't David.

This is the most powerful shift you can make in your life: moving from a mindset of construction to one of excavation. You are not an empty vessel that needs to be filled with new habits, traits, and skills. You are a block of marble, already containing the person you want to be. Your current behaviors, your fears, your doubts, your procrastination - these are the excess stone. They are not your essence; they are the debris covering it.

Let’s think about the person you want to be. Let’s call them your "Future Self." Now, understand this: your Future Self is not a different person. They are simply you, minus the fear.

The calm person you admire? They are you, minus the anxiety that comes from trying to control everything. The healthy person you envision? They are you, minus the habit of seeking comfort in food or lethargy. The successful person you dream of being? They are you, minus the self-doubt that keeps you from sharing your ideas and taking risks. The kind and patient person? They are you, minus the ego that needs to be right and the exhaustion that makes you snap.

The person you want to be is not defined by what they have added to their life, but by what they have let go of. They have chipped away the stone of fear, insecurity, and bad habits to reveal the strong, capable, and peaceful figure underneath.

If this is true, then the work is not about becoming, but about unbecoming. It’s not about adding a new personality trait to your resume; it’s about shedding the layers that don’t belong to you. It’s about putting down the heavy armor of the ego and allowing your true self to breathe.

So, how do you begin this process of excavation? You start with the chisel.

1. Identify Your "Excess Stone."

What are the behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs that are not aligned with the person you want to be? Be brutally honest. Is it the hour of doom-scrolling on social media every night? That’s excess stone. Is it the negative self-talk that tells you you’re not good enough? That’s excess stone. Is it the fear of judgment that stops you from pursuing your passion? That’s excess stone. You can’t chip away what you don’t see.

2. Ask the "What Would They Do?" Question.

This is your chisel. When faced with a decision, small or large, ask yourself: "What would the person I want to be do in this situation?" Don't ask what you want to do in the moment; ask what they would do.

• Your ideal self is healthy. When you’re tired and craving junk food, what would they choose? They’d choose the nourishing meal. So, that’s your chisel strike. Choose the salad.

• Your ideal self is calm. When you’re stuck in traffic, what would they do? They’d put on a podcast or take a deep breath. They wouldn’t fume. That’s your chisel strike. Take the deep breath.

• Your ideal self is courageous. When you have an idea that could improve a meeting, what would they do? They’d speak up. That’s your chisel strike. Raise your hand.

Each of these small choices is a tap on the chisel. A single tap does nothing. But a thousand taps, ten thousand taps - they begin to reveal a form. A single healthy meal doesn’t make you healthy, but consistently choosing it chips away at the identity of being an unhealthy person. You are not doing healthy things; you are being a healthy person.

3. Create an Environment That Supports the Sculpture.

A sculptor needs a clean, well-lit studio. What is your environment? Is it filled with junk food and distractions? Is it cluttered and chaotic? Surround yourself with the tools and triggers of your ideal self. Want to be a reader? Put a book on your pillow. Want to be a runner? Lay your running shoes by the door. The person you want to be is a part of you, but they need an environment that lets them emerge. Make it easy to make the right choice, and hard to make the wrong one.

4. Accept the Process and the Imperfections.

Michelangelo’s David has flaws. Marble is not perfect. You will mess up. You will binge-watch a show instead of reading. You will snap at your partner. You will skip the gym. In these moments, the old mindset of construction would have you believe the entire project is ruined, that you have to start all over. But the excavation mindset knows that a few errant chips don’t destroy the angel.

The person you want to be is not a perfectionist. They are resilient. They understand that setbacks are part of the process. When you stumble, you don’t abandon the sculpture. You simply pick up your chisel and resume your work. The goal is not a flawless performance; it is progress in a clear direction.

You have spent enough time looking at the person you want to be as a future trophy to be won. They are not. They are the very core of your being. They are the quiet voice inside you that knows what is right, even when you choose otherwise. They are the strength you feel in moments of clarity, the kindness that wells up when you see someone in need.

The distance between who you are and who you want to be is not a vast, empty canyon. It is measured in the space of a single choice. It is the space between the impulse and the action. It is the moment you decide to chip away the fear and let the real you shine through.

Stop trying to build a better you. Start uncovering the one that’s already there. The person you want to be is not in your future. They are in your present, waiting for you to pick up the chisel and see them. They are not a hope or a dream. They are a truth, waiting to be revealed.

With thanks to Brendana Vallée at pexels.com for the great image

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