John Glanvill • Anxiety Specialist & Researcher • Anxiety • OCD • Bipolar • ADHD • Energy • Online Treatment Course • Sensible Spirituality

Creating and using your new identity wisely

In this 44-minute video, we explore developing a new identity for yourself and recognising that so many of the stories in our heads are virtual reality ones and we need to change this. 

Goal of video

You can’t rid yourself of anxiety (or depression) and remain the same person!

The reason is that so much anxiety and depression stems from acting, thinking and behaving in anxious and depressive ways.

It is not by focusing within ourselves on our feelings that we escape anxiety; it is by looking out and exploring what we want from life, then how we need to grow to become that person who has the resilience to face the challenge of living life authentically – becoming the real you.

This is the part of the course where we start to examine our identity, our story about ourselves, and how that story influences our actions and determines how others treat us.

Key messages

Many disabled or pain ridden individuals, never complain and just get on with making their life all it can be, I have always had a silent respect for that attitude, self-acceptance and courageous self-worth.

As we become more proficient decision-makers and risk-takers, it is time to decide what direction you want your life to take, and even if you don’t know the (what) of what you want, you can be working on the (how) you will be as you do it, calmly, bravely, honestly, courageously, creatively, with humour, with love, with fascination, or with whatever qualities are important to you.

Can you have many identities (aspects of yourself) that differ but work together in a team (video 16) the example I give is of my gentle Warrior, my playful Nomad and my helpful Settler. They all have differing values, beliefs and skill sets.

But I only use one at a time so there is no conflict and they work as a team.

Can you pay attention to what Identity Signals you are broadcasting to those around you – as these will set the scene for how they will consciously/unconsciously treat you!

How we talk and behave – sets up VR stories in the other person about who they think we are, they then use those programs to treat you inline with their stories – not who you might actually be.

So, how can we update their VR stories about us (by behaving differently) so they ‘learn’ to treat us differently?

Can you ‘die to each moment’? Meaning see yourself as a new person in each new moment, you drop all of your old stories about yourself – and be whatever/whoever you need to be in that moment?

states that the unconscious mind via the Autonomic Nervous System decreases blood flow to muscles, nerves and tendons, this results in oxygen deficiency, thus, pain in those areas – to distract the conscious mind from dwelling on those past unconsciously hidden issues.