Rise and Lead
Rise and Lead
Lead From Who You Are, Not From What You Do with Benjamin Lundquist - RAL 96
On this episode, Lead From Who You Are, Not From What You Do, Benjamin speaks straight to the core of who you are. We’re living in a time with more noise, more pressure, and more confusion than ever and at the center of it all is an identity crisis most people don’t even realize they’re in. You’ll learn a simple, but powerful framework that will help you move from confusion to confidence. You’ll understand how God forms leaders in the quiet places, not the spotlight. And you’ll walk away with practical steps and real assignments to anchor your identity, strengthen your character, and step boldly into your calling. Whether you’re a college student figuring out your future or a seasoned leader carrying responsibility - this episode will ground you, guide you, and remind you who you really are.
Episode Quote:
"When your life stays rooted in Jesus, everything changes. You stop living shaken by circumstances and start living anchored by truth. Your strength doesn’t come from what’s happening around you, it flows from Who is living within you. And when you choose to serve people every single day, you step into the very heartbeat of God. Serving isn’t small - it's kingdom impact in motion. It’s how you shine light in dark places, heal broken spaces, and carry hope into rooms that desperately need it. Stay rooted. Stay surrendered. Stay available. God will use a life like that to change the world."
This episode, like all Rise and Lead Podcast episodes, is highly practical and motivating. Don't forget to subscribe to the Rise and Lead Podcast to ensure you get notified when new episodes release every month. When you share about the podcast, make sure and tag @benjaminlundquist, and he'll always try and give you a re-post. Remember, the best time to rise and lead is now!
If you don't know who you are, the world's gonna tell you, and it will always get it wrong. Culture will name you after your worst day, while God names you after your true design. Your feed is constantly telling you be more, do more, post more, hustle harder, or you're not enough. You can't live free if you keep renting your identity to other people's opinions. Welcome to Rise and Lead. I'm Benjamin Lundquist, and this podcast is all about personal growth and leadership. Thank you for listening and for being a part of our Rise and Lead community. We are a community of leaders who are passionate about growth, leadership, and expanding our impact on the world. This episode is going to speak straight to the core of who you are. We're living in a time with more noise, more pressure, and more confusion than ever. And at the center of it all is an identity crisis most people don't even realize they're in. You'll learn a simple but powerful framework that will help you move from confusion to confidence. You'll understand how God forms leaders in the quiet places, not the spotlight. And you'll walk away with practical steps and real assignments to anchor your identity, strengthen your character, and step boldly into your calling. Whether you're a college student trying to figure out your future or a seasoned leader carrying responsibility, this episode will ground you, guide you, and remind you of who you are. The Rise and Lead Podcast is designed specifically to motivate and equip you to live your greatest life with maximum impact. We are going to find out what makes great leaders great and how you can start growing yourself, rise, expanding your impact, lead, and living the life you have been created to live. We are stronger together. That's something I'm always coming back to. And I want to personally invite you to be a rise and lead partner in spreading the word about this podcast and all the episodes that will follow so together we can reach more people. Remember to subscribe so you can get all the episodes that release every month. Rate the podcast. I'm always going for a five-star rating. If you think Rise and Lee deserves five stars, I would greatly appreciate that. Leave a written review. Your reviews, they make a huge difference. And finally, share about Rise and Lee with your family, your friends, and your social media network. Screenshot this episode and send it to someone or text someone the episode link. You are helping people rise to their next level by connecting them to an episode. And when you share about the podcast as a social media post or story, make sure you tag me, and I'll always try and give you a repost. Your input, ratings, reviews, and shares help our team to continue creating a better podcast experience to serve great leaders like you. If this is your first time listening, I'm so glad you're here. I know your time is valuable, and I hope this episode arrives right on time for you. I'd like to start with prayers, so let's pray together. God, thank you for this moment. Thank you for every person listening, every leader, dreamer, and world changer you've called by name. Remind us today of who we are in you, not defined by titles, performance, or pressure, but by your truth, your love, and your presence. Speak through this episode. Bring clarity where there's confusion, peace where there's striving, and confidence where there's doubt. Recenter us in identity before assignment, worth before performance, and purpose before pressure. In your name we pray, amen. Let's talk about why this conversation matters deeply, urgently, and right now. We're living in a generation facing a crisis that's not being discussed with enough honesty. Not an economic crisis, not a leadership crisis, a crisis of identity. People don't know who they are anymore. We've confused identity with activity. We've replaced being with doing. We've tied our worth to our work, our peace to our performance, and our confidence to our consistency. And here's the truth: if the enemy can confuse your identity, he can control your destiny. Let me say that again. If the enemy can confuse your identity, he can control your destiny. If he can distort who you are, he can distract you from who you are becoming. You can't lead well when you're disconnected from who you are. You can't love well when you're unsure of whose you are. You can't fulfill your assignment when you're running on empty identity. This is why this matters. Because you can have accomplishments without alignment. You can have influence without identity. You can build a platform and still not know yourself. Every victory feels temporary when you don't know who you are. And that's why I want to run you through a framework that I've been using with leaders that has restored clarity, healed anxiety, reshaped leadership, and anchored people back into truth. It's called the identity flow framework. This isn't theory, this isn't leadership hype, this is formation, this is transformation, this is the deep work that actually lasts. Because once you get identity settled, everything else aligns. Here are the five stages. Confusion, who the world says you are, clarity, who God says you are, calling, why you're here right now, character, who you are becoming, and finally contribution, what you release into the world. The idea is to work through all five stages sequentially, but as we go through each one, you're gonna find yourself resonating with certain stages specifically because of where you're at right now. Like with every episode, take the teaching that you need most and apply it to your life and your leadership. Let's break down each stage with some insight, scripture, research, and real world application. Stage number one, confusion. Who the world says you are. Let's begin where most people are living right now, confused, exhausted, emotionally overloaded, spiritually undernourished. Our world is too loud and our souls are too quiet. Social media isn't just stealing our attention, it's shaping our identity. Recent research shows the average person now consumes the equivalent of 34 gigabytes of information a day. That's a hundred thousand words of input flooding into your mind every single day. No wonder people feel lost. No wonder comparison feels unavoidable. No wonder identity feels shaky. And here's the dangerous part. If you don't know who you are, the world's gonna tell you, and it will always get it wrong. Culture will name you after your worst day, while God names you after your true design. Your feed is constantly telling you, be more, do more, post more, hustle harder, or you're not enough. You can't live free if you keep renting your identity to other people's opinions. Let me say that again. You can't live free if you keep renting your identity to other people's opinions. And you see this play out in the very first identity attack in scripture. When the serpent approached Eve in Genesis chapter three, he didn't start by attacking her behavior. He attacked her identity when he said, Did God really say? The same whisper hits us today. Are you sure you matter? Are you really loved? Do you even have what it takes? Who do you think you are? Confusion is not from God, it's a strategy to distract you from your destiny. So let me ask you: whose voice has been shaping your identity, truth or noise, God or culture, calling or comparison? Here's the thing. Your peace begins the moment you stop looking for permission to be who God already said you are. Let me say that again. Your peace begins the moment you stop looking for permission to be who God already said you are. Here's your stage one assignment. Face the lies. This week, sit with a journal in front of you and write down the lies you've been believing about yourself that are simply not true. Name them, expose them, trace where they have come from. You can't break what you are unwilling to name. Honesty is the doorway to freedom. Stage number two, clarity. Who God says you are. Before Jesus ever preached, healed, or taught, before he was known, before he stepped into his assignment, the Father declared, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 317. Belovedness before breakthrough, approval before accomplishment. You don't work for God's love. You work from it. You're not fighting for belonging, you're anchored in it. College students need this, CEOs need this, pastors need this, parents need this. Everyone is starving for identity. Everyone is tired of the pressure to perform. Research shows that over 70% of young adults struggle with chronic anxiety. And the number one cause pressure to prove themselves. Identity is the antidote. Your worth doesn't move with performance. Your peace doesn't shift with outcomes. Your value doesn't rise and fall based on results. You can't crush your assignment if you're confused about your identity. Let me say that again. You can't crush your assignment if you're confused about your identity. Every morning this week, look in the mirror and speak truth until your soul starts believing it again. I am chosen. I am loved. I am forgiven. I am equipped. I am right on time. Because every time you declare truth, you silence a lie. Here's your stage two assignment. Meditate on your true identity. Pick a passage from Scripture this week. Ephesians 2, Psalms 139, Isaiah 43. Write it, pray it, declare it, and let the words of Scripture realign your soul. Stage number three, calling. Why you're here right now. Once your identity is clear, calling becomes simple. Calling isn't about spotlight. Calling isn't about applause. Calling isn't about being discovered. Calling is about surrender. Career is what you're paid for. Calling is what you're made for. Jeremiah 1, verse 5 reminds us: before I formed you, I set you apart. You were known before anyone noticed you. Look at scripture. Moses called from the wilderness. David called from the pasture. Esther called from obscurity. Peter called from failure. God reveals your calling in the quiet, not the crowd. Let me say that again. God reveals your calling in the quiet, not the crowd. Hidden seasons aren't punishment, they're preparation. Psychology calls this the incubation period. Seasons where growth is happening beneath the surface, long before anyone sees the fruit. This is why your private world matters. This is why obscurity matters. This is why surrender matters. And here's the shift. Stop asking, what should I do? And start asking, who am I becoming? Here is your stage three assignment. Surrender and develop. Give God a part of your life that you are trying to control. This is a part of your life that you were never meant to carry. And as you surrender, I want you to pick one skill that God has placed inside of you. Spend 10 minutes a day developing that skill. Practice it, sharpen it, steward it. Waiting seasons become preparation seasons when you show up with intentionality. Stage number four, character. Who are you becoming? Talent opens doors. Character keeps the doors open. We live in a world obsessed with image, but unaware of integrity. You can't build a lasting life on a shaky inner world. If your influence grows faster than your character, your collapse is inevitable. David didn't become a giant killer on the battlefield. He became a giant killer in the wilderness, fighting lions and bears when no one was watching. There are many people who want opportunities to step onto the battlefield in a public way. But are we willing to do the work in the wilderness in private that is preparing us for those battlefield moments? Private discipline produces public confidence. Your secret life is the real test of your spiritual life. Every leader I've coached, whether 19 or 59, struggles in the same place, not in gifting, but in grounding. So ask yourself, where is God trying to strengthen me? Where have I been compromising my character? Where have I been coasting instead of growing? Hear my heart on this. Make a decision today that you are going to be a leader of integrity, a leader of character. You are going to grow into being the same person off the stage that you are on the stage. You are going to put just as much work into your wilderness moments as you do your public opportunities. It's character that will keep you in the game long term. Here is your stage four assignment. Build one inner muscle. Pick one part of your character, integrity, discipline, honesty, humility, and develop it intentionally. Small daily consistency builds unshakable leaders. Share with another leader a character trait that you are wanting to grow and develop and ask them to hold you accountable. And finally, stage number five, contribution, what you release into the world. This is where everything converges. Identity, clarity, calling, character. This is where leadership becomes overflow. You don't bear fruit from striving. You bear fruit from abiding. John 15, verse 5. Jesus makes it clear: stay connected to me, and the fruit becomes inevitable. Not forced, not pressured, not hustled. I don't care if you're a college student, an entrepreneur, a parent, or a senior leader. Everyone wants to make a difference, but you can't release what you haven't received. You can't pour out what hasn't been poured in. Real leaders don't try harder, they root deeper. Your contribution flows from alignment, not anxiety, from identity, not insecurity. When your life stays rooted in Jesus, everything changes. You stop living shaken by circumstances and start living anchored by truth. Your strength doesn't come from what's happening around you, it flows from who is living within you. And when you choose to serve people every single day, you step into the very heartbeat of God. Serving isn't small. It's kingdom impact in motion. It's how you shine light in dark places, heal broken spaces, and carry hope into rooms that desperately need it. Stay rooted, stay surrendered, stay available. God will use a life like that to change the world. A true leader doesn't rise by climbing over people. They rise by lifting other people. If you want your influence to outlast your title, choose a life of service. Serve when it's unseen. Serve when it's inconvenient. Serve when no applause is waiting on the other side. Because service is where character is built. Humility is formed and impact is multiplied. The greatest leaders aren't the ones demanding followers. They're the ones modeling a life worth following. Lead with compassion. Lead with generosity. Lead with a towel in your hand and a purpose in your heart. That's the kind of leadership that transforms lives and honors God. That's the kind of leader God is calling you to be. So believe in your worth, believe that you're loved, and believe that you have significant value to offer other people. Here is your assignment for stage number five. Release one act of impact. Choose one way this week to bless, serve, speak, or create. One action that moves your gift from potential to practice for the service of other people. Impact grows when obedience flows. Again, here are the five stages of the framework. Confusion, who the world says you are, clarity, who God says you are, calling, why you're here right now, character, who you are becoming, and contribution, what you release into the world. Start with stage number one, or pick the stage that you need most right now. Every issue we're battling with today, anxiety, burnout, insecurity, comparison flows from one root. We forget who we are. You're not your job, you're not your past, you're not your performance. You are who God says you are. Chosen, equipped, and called. The most dangerous person is the one who remembers who they are in God. Your identity is your greatest weapon. Let me say that again. Your identity is your greatest weapon. When you live from identity, pressure breaks, peace rises, purpose becomes clear. You'll stop chasing significance the moment you realize you already carry it. You were never designed to manufacture worth. You were designed to reveal it. As you finish this episode, pick an assignment and move forward. Walk like heaven is backing you because it is. You're not behind, God is building you. You're not overlooked, God is refining you. You're not forgotten, God is positioning you. When God marks you, no one else can mistake you. When you walk in identity, every single room becomes an assignment. You were never created to blend in. You were called to stand out. So rise up, stand firm, lead from identity, love from wholeness, live with clarity, and crush your assignment while trusting God with the rest. When you remember who you are, you remember why you're here. And that's when everything changes. I hope this episode impacted and inspired you. Send me a DM and let me know. I read every message that comes in. Make sure you screenshot this episode, share it with someone, and post it to your social media accounts. Don't forget to tag me so I can give you a repost. I know there is someone you know who needs to hear this episode. Thank you for sharing, subscribing, and rating the podcast. Seriously, that means the world to me. Look for new episodes to release every month. You won't want to miss those. Thank you for taking the time to invest in yourself. You are worth it. Remember, the best time to rise and lead is now.