Scroll 046: The Version You Haven’t Met Yet

The life you want isn’t built by who you are today.

It’s built by the version of you you’re willing to become.

In this scroll, Cary reflects on a past conversation with Benjamin Hardy and breaks down the real gap most people face — not strategy, but identity.

Most people try to create a new life using the same thinking, habits, and patterns that got them where they are.

And it doesn’t work.

This episode explores what it actually takes to evolve:

•  why identity, not information, is the real lever 
•  why action creates clarity, not the other way around 
•  and why you cannot think your way out of something you behaved yourself into 

Kaizen Move:
Pick one area of your life and ask:
“What would the next version of me do right here?”

Then take one action.

Not later.
Now.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's going down, and welcome to the Story Samurai. This isn't just a podcast, it's a dojo for the soul. And we're not here to ship content. We're here to shape culture. The story samurai exists to transform introverted, growth-minded rebels into sovereign storytellers where clarity, mastery, and meaning shape every move. And every week I bring you a new scroll, a lesson, a story, a practice, something you can carry into your own sovereign path. I'm Carrie Hokama, creative entrepreneur, storyteller, and student of self-mastery, helping growth-minded rebels master their craft, rise to the challenge, and get their greatest work out into the world. And when I say rebels, I mean the ones who refuse to conform, the one who chooses sovereignty over trends, kaizen over comfort, and clarity over chaos. If that's you, Yokosol. Welcome to the dojo. Glad you're here. Let's begin. The life you want is waiting on the version of you you haven't met yet. Now, Benjamin Hardy was a guest on my podcast in 2020, which feels like a lifetime ago. If you're not familiar, he's an organizational psychologist and a New York Times bestselling author. He's written books like Willpower Doesn't Work, Personality is Impermanent, and Be Your Future Self Now. All centered around identity, behavior, and how people actually change. We didn't sit down to talk about hacks or shortcuts. The real conversation was about identity. Who do you need to become to actually live the life you say you want? After that, we stayed in touch a bit over text. And at one point, he even asked me to help share his book, Who Not How, which is really cool and an honor for me. But what stayed with me wasn't the moment, it was the idea. Most people try to build their future as their current self. Same habits, same thinking, same pattern, same energy, just aiming higher, and it doesn't work. Because your current identity got you here, but it won't take you there. And it reminds me of a line from Marshall Goldsmith who said, What got you here won't get you there. So here's how I've come to see it. You don't wait to become that next version of yourself. You decide. You decide who you want to be, you decide what you want. Clear, specific, owned. And from there you start aligning your life to that decision. You change how you think, you definitely change how you move, and you change what you tolerate, which is a huge one. Not perfectly, but deliberately. Because identity isn't something you hope into, it's something you build into. And this is also something I wrote about in my book, Own Yourself. One of the biggest lessons I learned from my mentor Hendre was this. You cannot think your way out of something you behaved yourself into. You have to behave your way out of it. So at some point, you stop overthinking and you just go. Action, action, action. Yes, not perfect action, not a fully mapped out action, just movement. Because action creates clarity. You take a step and that step reveals the next one. You move and the path starts to form. You don't need the whole entire plan, you just gotta go. And over time, that movement turns into direction. That direction turns into momentum, and that momentum starts shaping a new identity. For example, if you're at work, instead of waiting to feel ready, you speak up, you take initiative, you handle what's in front of you like the next version of you already would. If you're training, you don't wait until you feel confident, you show up, you get your reps in, and you stay present in the process, even when you're getting exposed. And if you're creating, you don't sit there trying to make it perfect. You hit record, you publish, you let the work sharpen you over time. Because in every area of your business life relationships, the pattern is the same. You move first, clarity follows. You act first, identity follows. And this isn't about hype, it's not about motivation, and it's not about turning this into a personal growth strip. Yes? This is about how change actually happens through behavior, through repetition, through alignment over time. And so here's your Kaizen move of the day. Pick one area of your life, work, training, creating, whatever it is, leading. Ask yourself, what would the next version of me do in this situation? Don't pick the comfortable version, don't pick the current version, the next version. Then identify one action that version of you would take today and go for it. Do it. Not later, not when you feel ready right now. Because a shift doesn't happen when you understand it, it happens when you move on it. And this is why you're a story, samurai, because you understand this path isn't about chasing outcomes, it's about shaping identity. It's about becoming the kind of person who doesn't need to force results. Because the way you think, the way you act, and the standards you live by make those results inevitable. Now, if this scroll spoke to you, pass it on to another Kaizenite because there's someone in your world right now stuck in their head, trying to think their way forward when what they really need is to just start moving and flowing. And sometimes one reminder like this is all it takes. Until next time, Kaiznites, be steady, live sovereign, and never stop writing your own story.