Uncovering the Dirt from the Diamond

Why Identity Matters

September 07, 20253 min read

Rigid molds won’t hold. Fluid invention won’t heal. Only design restores.

The Ache of Not Knowing Who You Are

Something in you already knows, identity isn’t optional.
It’s not just a label you wear, or a role you play.
It’s the ground under your feet.

And when it breaks, everything above it buckles.

Some have tried to solve this by locking identity into rigid molds. You’ve seen it in church settings. Broken men preaching identity through their own fractures, laying burdens God never gave. The result? Shame, conformity, and collapse.

Others have tried the opposite extreme. Rejecting fixed identity altogether and calling themselves fluid, formless, and undefined. Still others define identity for themselves, as if self-invention could heal what the Fall fractured. But when broken people write their own blueprint, the result is only more distortion.

Neither works. Both deepen the ache.


The False Fixes

The world offers quick answers. Gurus selling surface strategies, secular thinkers promising utopia through human progress, religious leaders demanding conformity to their own broken standards.

Every one of them misses the root. Every one of them leaves the ache intact.


The Third Way

The truth is, we are born with a fixed identity. It was given by God.
But we are also born with flaws. The Fall distorted what was perfect, and life adds more layers of distortion through systems, expectations, and voices trying to tell us who we are.

The work is not to reinvent ourselves. The work is to uncover what God already placed there.


The Work of Uncovering

Think of a diamond buried in dirt. The value is already there. The form is already fixed. The problem isn’t that it needs to be invented. The problem is that it’s covered in dirt.

That’s what identity is like. The work is not to become someone new but to let God remove the dirt and distortion until your design shines again.


Why Identity Matters

Because without identity, the ache never ends.
Without it, exhaustion grows, relationships fracture, and work turns hollow.

But with it, clarity rebuilds what collapse tried to steal.

That’s why identity matters. Not as an abstract idea, but as the only way back to the life you were uniquely created to live. This is what I call the .1% Effect. Uncovering the fraction of your design that makes you distinct, the GodPrint that rebuilds what collapse tried to steal.

This is where the Maverick Path begins.


From my radiant Maverick heart,
– Jeff ❤️‍🔥

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13


Next Steps of You’re Ready

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Jeffrey S. Simpson is a strategic advisor, movement builder, and spiritual disruptor—guiding trailblazers and purpose-driven souls to live boldly, unleash impact, and align with their divine design. Through his signature frameworks—the .1% Effect℠, Be EmPowerful℠, and the 5F Framework℠ (Faith, Family, Fitness, Fellowship, and Field)—Jeff helps others become who God created them to be in life, work, and legacy.

A Maverick with nearly 37 years of service in and with the U.S. Navy and over 15 years at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Jeff brings battle-tested leadership to every conversation. He holds graduate degrees in divinity and ministry, a bachelor’s in religion, and an associate’s in engineering. He is a certified Strengths Champion coach, actively pursuing certification in the Enneagram and credentialing through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

When he's not coaching high-achieving pioneers, Jeff can be found on the dance floor as a passionate ballroom, rhythm, and social dancer.

Jeffrey S. Simpson

Jeffrey S. Simpson is a strategic advisor, movement builder, and spiritual disruptor—guiding trailblazers and purpose-driven souls to live boldly, unleash impact, and align with their divine design. Through his signature frameworks—the .1% Effect℠, Be EmPowerful℠, and the 5F Framework℠ (Faith, Family, Fitness, Fellowship, and Field)—Jeff helps others become who God created them to be in life, work, and legacy. A Maverick with nearly 37 years of service in and with the U.S. Navy and over 15 years at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Jeff brings battle-tested leadership to every conversation. He holds graduate degrees in divinity and ministry, a bachelor’s in religion, and an associate’s in engineering. He is a certified Strengths Champion coach, actively pursuing certification in the Enneagram and credentialing through the International Coaching Federation (ICF). When he's not coaching high-achieving pioneers, Jeff can be found on the dance floor as a passionate ballroom, rhythm, and social dancer.

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