The Art Of Transformation

Level Up Your 'Being' to Maximize Your 'Doing'

You cannot outdo your current identity.

You cannot outdo who you are being.

The standards you hold yourself to, will either be the catalyst or the preventative of your transformation. 

The limitations you have on your life today are based around the identity you’ve attached to. 

If you see yourself as cursed, you’ll only focus on how life seems to be “bringing you down”.

If you see yourself as blessed, you’ll find goodness and grace throughout the ups and downs of life. 

I’m currently in a season of growth, both in business and in my personal life. But it’s not the FUN part of growing, it’s the step before that one. The painful part. The uncomfortable part of growth. The breakdown, before the rebuild part of life. 

Without going into great depth or detail, 2023 has been the cause for deep reflection. I started this year with six different companies in my business portfolio, and ended up cutting that number by more than half. 

A close friend, and someone who I looked at as a little brother, suddenly passed away earlier this year. Not even a few weeks later, we had a family member suddenly pass away as well. And just when we thought the healing process was finally starting, we lost another family member while heaven gained another angel. 

It’s moments like this where I can’t help but scratch my head and ask God, “Why?”

Why is this happening? Why us? Why now?

Doubt, confusion, uncertainty, and a rush of other conflicting thoughts and emotions continued to rush through my mind. And if you’re like me, you spend a lot of time in your head. And if you know what I’m talking about then you already know how tiring and daunting that can be. There’s mornings where I don’t want to get up. There’s times where I catch myself mindlessly scrolling on social media to stay distracted. 

But here’s the thing. 

I’ve been here before.

This isn’t the first major challenge I’ve had in life, but the symptoms are similar. 

The biggest difference is how I’ve responded. Before, I’d get into a deep depression and lock everyone out of my life. I’d close up and hold everything in. I’d fall into bad habits and turn to alcohol to temporarily ease the hurt. I’d play endless hours of video games to keep my mind off of life. 

But this time was different. Yes, I still got hurt and felt the pain. Yes, I took a few days to ground myself and set things into perspective. But my response this time around was better, because my identity had shifted. 

I wasn’t just the “cop who got hurt” and now hates the world, not this time. I see my life with a greater purpose, a bigger plan beyond my own understanding. The reason I defaulted to alcohol and video games was because I didn’t have a vision of the man I was called to be. I had no higher standard to follow. 

The identity I held onto was from my adolescence, going into early adulthood. It never evolved from there even when I was a cop.  I was so ego driven I couldn’t see beyond myself. So when my pride was challenged, so was my identity. 

I started to see myself as a man God masterfully and purposefully crafted. A man with purpose, identity, mission, and core values. A family man. A businessman. 

A leader and a warrior made to glorify His Kingdom.

Once I upgraded my vision and locked into the identity God’s called me to be, that’s when I finally CHANGED. I began this transformation process.

I raised the standard of what it means to be a good father, husband, and leader; I mapped out the characteristics and traits that I strived to attain and simply followed the plan. I didn’t want to be a man, as defined by the world, but I wanted to be the MAN that God called me to be.

I did my research, and studied the Bible. I found a set of standards and I formed habits that would get me to where I wanted to be.

There are no limitations, but I do believe there are specific parameters we must follow. 

The game had finally changed. 

Life finally changed when I stopped playing by my rules. 

God’s game is different. It’s better. Truthfully, it’s the best.

And in His game, there’s a different set of rules.

Rules worth playing. Rules worth trying over and over again. 

So who’s game do YOU want to keep playing? Because the one who makes the games, also makes the rules. 

And here’s the secret, you and I suck at making games and setting rules.

-Angelo