rwrobinson4633@gmail.com: David had access to the most advanced military equipment in Israel, the king's own armor. It was tested in battle and proven to work, but he took it off. What he did next is the reason most leaders are exhausted and they don't even know it. Welcome to Shifts and Ladders, I'm Ryan Robinson. And if you're new here, this show is for individuals who are looking successful on the outside, but feel fragmented on the inside. We're gonna learn from the pattern of Jesus that one shift that will change everything in our life, okay? This is one of the final episodes on a loose four-part series around wholeness. And it actually might be the most important one, so glad you tuned in today. Because we're gonna be answering the question underneath all of the other questions. Do you know who you actually are? Not your title, not your role, not the version of you that performs well in meetings. The real you. The one who existed before achievements, the one who carries something the world needs, the one who probably has been missing and you've probably been dismissing your entire life. By the end of this episode, you will have a framework and a statement that you can write for yourself that changes how you show up everywhere. All let's get into it. ⁓ 1 Samuel chapter 17, this is David and Goliath story. And if you don't know or don't wanna talk about Goliath, I wanna talk about the armor that was given to David. Verse 38 says this, then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. The king himself suited David up for battle. Now this was a top tier equipment. mean, the king is going to have the best of everything. It's battle tested, proven, and everyone in the army had seen Saul's armor work. But verse 39 says this, David fastened his sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to them. And he says this, I cannot go in these, he said to Saul, because I am not used to them. So he took them off. Now, most people would read this like the armor is too big, but that's not the point here. The armor worked for Saul. David's problem wasn't the quality of the equipment, it was the fit. The armor wasn't designed for his body, his training, the way he was fighting. It was meant for someone else and their proven way of doing battle. And their proven way was actually going to slow him down. Now, how many of you are operating on borrowed armor right now? Someone else's framework, someone else's morning routine, someone else's definition of success, someone else's theology of calling. You adopted it because it was proven, because it worked for them, because someone you respected said, this is how it's done. But then you're exhausted, not from the work itself. but from the friction of operating in equipment that doesn't even fit you. There's a tool I learned it's called root cause analysis is getting literally to the root of why you do what you do. And sometimes solutions that we have aren't better strategies, particularly ones that we borrow from someone. It's when we discovered that what we've already mastered may not be the thing that works best for you. And Sometimes we have to go back to what we knew to figure out that that actually worked best for us. For David, it was being the shepherd. So what did he develop in the years of being the shepherd? What did you develop in your shepherd years? Before the title, before the platform, before everyone was watching? That's your sling. And until you identify it, you will be fighting in armor. that is slowing you down. Now let me show you what it looks like to lead from identity instead of anxiety, okay? We're gonna pull from Jesus here. John chapter 13 verses three through five says this, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he came from God and was going to God. So he got up from the meal, took his outer clothing and wrapped towel around his waist and began to wash the disciples feet. You need to catch the sequence here, okay? Jesus knew. First, identity. Clarity about who he was, where he came from, and where he was going. The next thing he did, so he got up. The action. The service flowed from the security from the identity. So he could wash feet because he knew who he was. The act didn't diminish him because his identity, here it is, wasn't at stake. Most leaders and most individuals can't serve like this because they can't take a lowly position because they're still trying to prove that they're in a higher one. Trying to prove they're in charge, trying to prove they're... they're the big man or big woman on campus, they can't be vulnerable because their identity is tied to appearing superior to someone. And they don't have the ability to be vulnerable. But when you know who you are, listen to me, when your identity is sourced and settled, you're free. You're free to serve. You're free to speak truth. You're free to fail publicly because your worth isn't on the line. That is freedom, y'all. That's freedom. There's a question God asked Moses at the burning bush that I think about constantly. And my coach reminds me of this and just recently did a few hours ago, actually. ⁓ Genesis, not Genesis, Exodus chapter four, verse two. God asked Moses this, what is in your hand? Moses had a staff. It was just a shepherd staff, nothing special. But God said, throw it down. And when he did, it became a serpent. It became a sign. It became the instrument of liberation to an entire nation. God didn't... Give Moses new equipment. He activated what Moses already had. That was enough. And that's the same question I want you to sit with today. What's already in your hand? What experiences have you had that felt like detours but were actually training? What skills did you develop in obscurity that you've dismissed as irrelevant to your current challenges? What's the thing you do without thinking, that's so natural that you assume everyone can do it, that actually that is your unique contribution. That thing, that's your sling, that's your staff, and that's what God has designed you and provided you opportunity to help others with, okay? So I wanna give you a framework. I like to call it, ⁓ a translation matrix. Sounds very, very fancy, but ⁓ it's just a couple of questions, okay? And something you can do for yourself. What did you master effortlessly in your past? Something to think about. Maybe you were a kid who could walk into any room, read the emotional temperature in about 30 seconds. ⁓ Maybe you spent years in a role where everyone thought was dead or You went into a situation that seemed hopeless, but it gave you skillsets to help that team or even that family or that person get to another level. Maybe your useless degree, your money sucking hobby or a wasted decade actually built something irreplaceable in you. So. Think about what have you mastered effortlessly in the past, okay? Another question too, what challenge are you facing right now? Is it a career pivot? Is it a leadership gap? Is it a business plateau? Is it a ministry that you're stuck in? Is it a... ⁓ be anything is an identity you're struggling with. It's something at home. Okay. Now this is the bridge I want you to kind of take from column one and column two, question one, question two. What does question one or how does question one translate to question two? And this is where most people get stuck. They can see both questions, but they can't build a bridge. to those two questions. That's because they've been trained to think linearly. My degree should connect directly to my job title. And how many people does that even work? Does that work for most people? Not really. If you're a doctor maybe, but that doesn't work for 90 % of the population. Integration doesn't work that way. your sling, your staff, your native genius often shows up in unexpected translation. ⁓ there's a one sentence tool or question I want you to say or phrase. I don't just blank, I blank. So let me rephrase it again. My statement or my sling statement. I don't just optimize processes. I help people become whole by eliminating the waste in their life. Okay? Now I want you, by the time this episode ends, write yours down. Or at least, after you watch this, figure out what that is. One sentence. What you actually do. Not what your LinkedIn profile says, but what you were designed to do. Now, as I said, we're closing out this series and I want to pull it all together because these episodes aren't separate topics. They are four angles of a thesis. And here it is. Jesus is the only fully integrated human who ever lived. Episode we talked about what wholeness refuses. The enemy offered opportunity for Jesus to get to the cross without going through painful situations. Not because the kingdom wasn't real, but because accepting the way the enemy presented would have required him to split his identity and become a divided person. Episode two, we talked about how wholeness can be sustained. Jesus withdrew from, ⁓ not from weakness, but from, but for maintenance. He returned to the source, spent time with the Father in the cool of the day. And he had one identity, one source, one whole life, and that life could operate from the same fuel supply over and over again. Episode three, we talked about how identity protects itself. has boundaries that a no means something. That a person who doesn't know how to say no doesn't know who they are yet. And Jesus, his no flowed from his identity and he had clear boundaries. He knew his assignment. He knew what to say yes to and what to say no to without any guilt. And today we're talking about how wholeness operates. Jesus could wash feet because he knew who he was. David could fight with a sling because he trusted his own training. And Moses could lead with the staff because God activated what was already in his hand. Now, do you see a pattern? I want you to see a pattern here. And it shows up every time, and this is how God operates. He gives you the identity first. And then from that action, from that identity, excuse me, He gives you the action. Not to do more until you become someone. It's know who you are and the doing flows from the being. So it's a be, do, have process, okay? That is what God always does when He calls someone. And usually, when we mess up, it's because we've mixed up that method and that phrase to put the do first and then the have and then we be. That's the trick of the enemy, to prove. In Matthew chapter four, we talked about this. The enemy always said, if you were the son of God, then you would do what? He was always questioning the identity of Jesus first. And God will never question your identity, but give it to you so that no matter what happens around you, you can be stable in what he said and not be offended when you get questioned to determine what your identity is and proving it to someone. And I built this framework called the integration protocol. And this is what it essentially is built on. It is built on eliminating the questions around identity and getting yourself rooted in that first. And once you are rooted in that, your being, in your being first, you will start to build a system around who you are. So your life runs from the same source, not from your doing, but from your being. And these four episodes that I just named were something that helped you get yourself anchored. I talked about this and I have a link in the bio, in the bio, in the show notes about the fragmentation assessment. What's important about that is sometimes we're not aware that we've been operating from the wrong model. And because of that, we get burned out and we don't even know what success looks like. It will show you exactly where you're bleeding energy. Okay. And I just want you to be reminded that God gave you and provided you an identity. You're his son, you're his daughter, and he loves you dearly. And if you know someone who is struggling with that, send them to episode one or the earlier ones because they have to be reminded every day of who they are. So whatever you do flows from that place. It might be the most important thing you do and you share this week. I'm Ryan Robinson. This is Shifts and Ladders. Stop performing and start. becoming a whole person. We'll see you in the next