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January Monday Huddles: Identity, Alignment, and the Path to Transformation
In the month of January, our Monday Huddles focused on identity, alignment, surrender, submission, and transformation.
Why Growth So Often Doesn’t Stick
It’s interesting how this journey began—with a reflection on how we so often make New Year’s resolutions, full of hope and determination, only to find ourselves, more often than not, like a hamster running an endless race on a wheel—exhausted, busy, and going nowhere. That reflection led me to a deeper question: How do we make growth stick? After all, isn’t that where the desire to change truly comes from—a longing to grow beyond the person we see in the mirror into the person we imagine we could be?
This question pushed us to explore a different framework for growth.
Rethinking the Wheel of Life
We began by looking at the Wheel of Life—not the familiar version where we assess different areas of our lives and rate how well we’re doing (though that exercise did come up during our sessions; for reference, see: https://wheeloflife.noomii.com/, which also offers a free assessment tool).
Instead, we explored a different wheel: the wheel where fruit is formed.
This wheel is rooted in surrender, submission, and transformation. Who we are surrendered to informs our actions (submission), and when surrender and submission work together, transformation occurs.
Surrender Is Not Optional
Here’s the key realization: it is not a matter of if we surrender—it is only a matter of who or what we surrender to. We are created with an innate wiring to worship, to surrender to something greater than ourselves. And there are really only two options. We either surrender to God—not merely the idea of a supreme creator, but God as the Master of our lives—or we surrender to the ideologies of the world, allowing the voices, values, and perceptions of other people to shape and direct our identity.
Who we surrender to informs who we become.
Identity: Given or Negotiated
For those who believe in God as Master—often linked to the belief that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior—identity is not something we create; it is something we receive. From that place, we begin a journey of submission—surrender in action—being transformed more and more into the image of Christ. This identity remains constant and unchanging, regardless of age, sex, season, or generation.
For those who find their identity in the world, however, identity is not given—it is negotiated. It becomes fluid, ever-changing, shaped and reshaped by culture, trends, opinions, and external validation.
From Surrender to Obedience
Surrender forms bonds, and bonds build relationships. Relationship builds trust, and where there is trust, obedience naturally follows. Following this logic, what we surrender to is ultimately what we obey. And because obedience directs our actions, and our actions shape our character, the identity we carry reflects either the One we believe created us—or the world in which we live.
Transformation Is Neutral—Direction Is Not
It is the movement from surrender to submission that allows for transformation. And transformation itself is a neutral word—it is neither good nor bad. It simply means change. Just as what we eat transforms us physically, what we consume spiritually, emotionally, and mentally transforms us inwardly. What we choose to feed on determines whether that transformation leads us toward health or away from it. In the same way, what we surrender to informs our character and shapes who we are becoming.
Alignment Determines Fruit
Understanding this empowers us to be intentional about alignment—because alignment determines fruit. Fruit, again, is neutral. But the soil and the fertilizer determine whether that fruit is nourishing and life-giving, or forced, bitter, and unsustainable. Our fruit cannot hide what is in our hearts. It is always a reflection of what lies beneath the surface—whether we are aware of it or choose to acknowledge it.
This truth is as fixed as gravity. Whether we believe gravity exists or not does not change the outcome of stepping off a ten-story building.
As the older folks would say, “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.” In life, it might be better stated as: “By your fruit, I will know who you are.”
The True Center of the Wheel
The real center of the Wheel of Life is not about mapping where you are in life. It is about understanding who you are—and why you have chosen to be who you are becoming.
A Note from Ardant Solutions
At Ardant Solutions, this philosophy shapes how we develop our people. We believe lasting growth—whether personal or organizational—comes from formation, alignment, and character, not performance alone. Our Monday Huddles exist to create space for reflection, ownership, and transformation that shows up not just in what we do, but in who we are.