Shannon Bond

The Identity Audit™

Decide who you are for the next 12 months. Then write it down every day until you live it.

The Identity Audit · 6 min 45 sec

Why this comes first

Your blood work, your Biometric Dashboard™ and your Daily Playbook™ tell you what to do. Your identity decides whether you keep doing it when work blows up, the flight is delayed and the client dinner runs late.

Every man acts in line with who he believes he is. A man who sees himself as the one who always slides back will find a way to slide back. A man who sees himself as an athlete who runs a business trains on the days he doesn't feel like it.

This exercise gives you that second identity, in your own words. It takes about an hour to set up and 5 to 10 minutes a day after that.

Frustration is a tax

Energy never disappears. It changes form. The frustration you carry about your health and your business is energy, and right now it is pointed the wrong way.

Every problem you keep putting up with costs you something. The belt that got tighter. The 2pm crash. The 2am wake-up. The Monday restart that is finished by Wednesday. The person at work who keeps dropping the ball. Each one runs quietly in the background and drains the energy you need for your family, your business and your training.

So the first job is an uncomfortable one. Get every frustration out of your head and into the open. You can only change what you are willing to look at.

My two-strike rule

When something bothers me twice, I give myself three options:

Fix it. Build a system, get expert help, delegate it, or cut it out of my life completely.
Accept it. Decide to be at peace with it for good.
Never mention it again. This is option 2 with fewer words.

There is no third strike and no complaint I carry around for years. I either own the problem and change it, or I let it go. Anything else is choosing to suffer.

Step 1

The voice dump

Go somewhere on your own. A walk is best. Open the notes app on your phone, turn on voice to text, and talk. Title the note with the date, "Identity Statement" and your name.

Cover these three parts in order. Allow 20 to 30 minutes.

Part 1: Complain. Properly.

Say everything that frustrates you right now and how it affects your life. Go through each area:

Your body: weight, how your clothes fit, strength, aches and injuries
Your energy: mornings, afternoons, and what is left when you get home
Sleep and recovery: how you sleep and how you feel when you wake up
Food and alcohol: client dinners, travel, weekends, late-night eating
Training: consistency, plateaus, programs that didn't last
Stress and headspace: what sits on your mind and won't switch off
Family and relationships: how present you are and what they get from you
Business and work: team, revenue, sales, clients, the hours, and the things only you seem able to do

This transcript is for you, so don't be polite and don't edit yourself. When you complain, really complain.

Part 2: What works

Now talk about the times you felt your best. When you were fit, sharp and enjoying life and business. What were you doing? What did your days look like? Who was around you? Then say what is going well right now, in your health and in your business.

Part 3: Your life 12 months from now

Describe it clearly. Your weight, your energy, your blood work, how you train, how you sleep, how you show up at home, where the business is and how you spend your time.

Only describe what it looks like. Leave the "how" alone for now. The how is our job.

Do not skimp on this step. Everything that follows is built from it.

Step 2

Turn it into your identity

Copy the full prompt below into ChatGPT or Claude. Replace [PASTE YOUR VOICE TRANSCRIPT HERE] at the bottom with your voice transcript.

Prompt to copy

Paste your voice-to-text transcript at the end of the prompt.

You are an experienced health and performance coach who works with successful businessmen aged 40 to 65. You specialise in turning a man's complaints and frustrations into positive affirmations, personal standards and a clear identity statement.

At the bottom of this message is a voice transcript. In it I complain about my health, body, energy, sleep, food, alcohol, training, stress, family life and business. I also describe when I was at my best and what I want my life to look like in 12 months.

Your task:

1. Identify the key negative statements in the transcript, across health, lifestyle and business.

2. Invert each one into its opposite, ideal reality. Write these as positive affirmations in the present tense, mostly starting with "I am", "I have" or "I do". Make them specific to my life and my words, covering my body, energy, sleep, nutrition, alcohol, training, mindset, family and business. Each one should describe exactly how I live, lead and look after myself once the complaint is gone.

3. Extract the personal standards underneath these affirmations. These are the principles I use to make decisions every day: at the dinner table, in a hotel, at a client dinner, at home with my family and at work with my team. Give each one a short name and a one-sentence description that is specific enough to guide a real decision.

4. Write my identity statement. Combine the most important affirmations into two or three sentences, 30 words or fewer in total, in the first person and present tense. It must be short enough to write by hand 5 to 10 times a day and strong enough that I want to. Give me three versions to choose from.

Rules:
- Use my own words and phrases from the transcript where possible.
- Use what I said about my best times and my ideal future to shape the affirmations.
- Keep everything realistic for a busy man who works long hours, travels and has a family.
- Write in plain Australian English with no hype.

Please provide:
- 10 to 15 affirmations
- 8 to 10 personal standards
- 3 versions of my identity statement

Example transcript:
"I'm running on empty by 2pm. I restart every Monday and it's over by Wednesday. I've got nothing left for my family when I get home, and the business falls over if I take a day off."

Example output:

Affirmations:
"I have steady energy from the first meeting of the day to the last."
"I train every week, at home or away, whatever my calendar looks like."
"I walk in the door at night with energy left for my family."
"I have a team that runs the business well when I am not in the room."

Personal standards:
"Consistency first: I do the planned session, even when it has to be a short one."
"Family gets my best: I protect my energy so the people at home get the best of me."
"Build systems: when a problem shows up twice, I build a system or hand it over."

Identity statement:
"I am a fit, strong, clear-headed man. I keep the promises I make to myself. My family and my business get the best of me."

Here is my transcript:

[PASTE YOUR VOICE TRANSCRIPT HERE]

Step 3

Choose your statement

Pick the identity statement that feels most like the man you are becoming. Change any words that don't sound like you. It should be two or three sentences that you would be proud to say out loud.

Then print your full list of affirmations and personal standards and put it where you will see it every day: your desk, your bathroom mirror or the inside of your wardrobe door.

Step 4

Write it 5 to 10 times a day

Every day, write your identity statement out 5 to 10 times by hand. Use pen and paper, in a notebook you keep only for this.

Pick a set time. First thing in the morning works well, before email and before your phone.

Write every line in full and read it as you write it.

Take the notebook with you when you travel. Those are the days it matters most.

It takes 5 to 10 minutes. Repetition is how the statement moves from words on a page to the way you see yourself.

Step 5

Find the gaps

Under your results, list every place where you are living against your identity statement and personal standards right now. Be honest with yourself.

Examples: the third glass of wine on a weeknight. The training session you moved and never rescheduled. The phone at the dinner table. The job you should have delegated a year ago.

Step 6

Check your environment

Now look outside yourself. Write down where the things and people around you pull against your statement:

The content you consume
The food and drink you keep at home and at the office
Your calendar and your routines
Your team and business partners
Your close relationships and social circle

Then apply the two-strike rule to each one. Fix it, accept it, or never mention it again.

Step 7

Write a letter from your future self

Write a letter to yourself today, from the man you are 12 months from now.

Share where you are physically, mentally, financially, spiritually and in any other area that matters to you. Share what you weigh, how you feel when you wake up, what your blood work shows and how you train. Share where your family life and your business are, and what has changed.

Be descriptive. Where are you sitting as you write? Who is with you? What can you see? Then share the lessons you learned along the way.

Add the letter to your document. Send it to your coach in your private WhatsApp chat or email to ceo@icarus-project.com.

Email your coach