That was three weeks ago.

There’s a story behind that.

This is your daily message from Chad number 1072 to upgrade your mental game today by telling yourself a better story, because the most important story you hear is the story you tell yourself. This message is dedicated to Mike and Tina Moore.

Here’s the upgrade: You know who you are today, but upgraded thinking knows you are always in control of who you become.

Here’s the story:

Moe Berg was a catcher in the major leagues—not a great one, but good enough. His real gift wasn’t his bat. It was his mind. He spoke multiple languages fluently. In 1932 while playing for the Washington Senators, he was invited to go on a goodwill tour to Japan, “I appreciate it,” Berg said, “but I don’t speak Japanese.” Well, he ended up going anyway. Three weeks later, at the dock in Japan as the team was boarding to leave, the players watched Berg chatting with Japanese officials, in Japanese. When his teammates saw this they said, “Wait, you told us you didn’t speak Japanese.” Berg said, “Yes, but that was three weeks ago.”

What you are today—your skills, your language, your capacity—is not a fixed point. It’s a starting line. Carol Dweck calls it the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Becoming is better than being. Who you are right now is not who you have to be three weeks from now. Three months from now. Three years from now.

The better story to tell yourself is, “I’m not trapped by who I am today. I’m in control of who I become.” The person you will become is determined by the person you decide to be today. You’re stuck in a job you hate? You don’t have to be. You’re out of shape? You don’t have to be. You’re afraid? You don’t have to stay that way. Small, consistent action over a short window changes everything. Not someday. Not eventually. Now.

As a sidenote, Moe Berg had a long Major League Baseball career, but when America entered WWII with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he helped spy on Japan for the US in the Office of Strategic Services, which eventually became the CIA.

Tell me a story of becoming more than you were to fromchadsmith@gmail.com. Send someone a text and ask them, “What was a transformation you made in your life from who you were to who you became?” You can get a free copy of my book, The Most Powerful Story in the World, by going to fromchad.gumroad.com. The transcript of this message and hundreds of others are always available at www.fromchad.com.