Five Steps to Becoming the Future You

This time of year pushes all of us to take stock. We look at what worked, what didn’t, and how we want to grow in the months ahead. But even with the best training, systems and strategic tools in place, many entrepreneurs and executives keep running into the same ceiling. The question is: what’s actually holding growth back?

According to business strategist and identity success coach Grant Sherwood, the real barrier to growth has far less to do with tactics and everything to do with identity.

“Leaders try to out-strategise an identity that no longer fits who they're becoming and you can implement the best ideas in the world, but if your self-image hasn't evolved, you'll repeat old patterns, plateau, or burn out," he says. 

Grant’s approach, based on ‘Becoming the Future You’, reframes leadership growth as an identity‑driven process rather than a strategic one. Instead of asking, “What should I do?” leaders are encouraged to consider, “What would the future version of me be, and what behaviours would they embody today?”

The shift happens when you act on those behaviours now.,  Growth accelerates when you start living into the identity of the leader you are becoming, not the one you’re outgrowing..

5 Steps to Becoming the Future You

Grant breaks down identity transformation into a practical, repeatable process. 

Define Your Future Identity: Get specific about the leader you want to become. How do they think? How do they make decisions? What standards guide how they show up?

Audit Your Current Behaviours: Look at your habits, conversations, emotional patterns, and decisions. Identify what serves you and what no longer fits where you’re heading.

Build the Right Environment: Spend time with people who operate at the level you're moving towards. Not to copy them, but to notice the shared behaviours and mindset that drive results.

Reset Unhelpful Emotional Patterns: Treat your emotional reactions as information. Replace fear-driven or reactive responses with choices that reflect the leader you’re becoming.

Act Like Your Future Self, Every Day: Small, consistent actions create momentum. Each decision moves you closer to the identity you’re growing into or pulls you back to the one you’re leaving behind.

These steps can help leaders close the distance between where they are now and who they're becoming. Once that alignment clicks, momentum accelerates and everything becomes clearer.

Identity in Action

One of Grant's clients, a business owner, under pressure after failed deals and mounting personal strain, found himself stuck and unable to move forward. By shifting his identity and mindset, he went from feeling paralysed to operating with more certainty and stability.

The change was full circle, opening doors to renewed investor interest, productive high-value discussions and a clear path to resolving his financial challenges. As Grant puts it, "When your identity shifts, reality follows."

Overlooking the emotional signals

Leaders often miss the early emotional cues that signal a misalignment between their current identity and the level of success they’re aiming for. Work that once felt energising becomes draining, motivation dips, and frustration rises. Decision-making slows, progress stalls, and despite adopting new strategies, old behaviours resurface. As Grant explains, “Your identity must expand before your results do.”

In a business environment that’s becoming more complex by the day, this alignment is emerging as a genuine competitive advantage.  Leaders who intentionally reshape their identity tend to make faster decisions. They show more emotional resilience, think more creatively, and build stronger team cultures. 

Research supports this. Studies indicate that up to 90% of strategies succeed when leaders genuinely believe they can execute them, reinforcing the idea that identity - not just tactics - is the blueprint for high performance. 

"Success isn't about becoming someone new," Grant says. "It's about returning to the version of yourself capable of leading at the highest level."

Follow Grant Sherwood for more on neuroscience, identity transformation, and personal leadership @GrantSherwood.