Alter Ego…don’t leave home without it.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of alter egos. But what is one, exactly? An alter ego is a second self, a totally different and unique version of yourself. If you’re shy and reserved, maybe your alter ego would be bold and outgoing. If you’re normally a home-body, your alter ego might be an adventurous adrenaline junkie.
These days, it seems like every movie that comes out has something to do with superheroes. And while superhero movies are certainly entertaining, they’re also great sources of alter ego inspiration.
Peter Parker has his Spiderman alter ego, Bruce Wayne has Batman, Barry Allen has The Flash, Bruce Banner has The Hulk. All of these characters created a persona for themselves that was far different than their original selves, but it allowed them to do incredible things. Peter Parker was a nerdy high school kid, but as Spiderman, he was a hero.
Now I’m definitely not suggesting you put on a superhero costume and run around town chasing criminals. But there’s a real benefit to creating your own alter ego. It can help you be fearless enough to do things you wouldn’t normally do or exhibit parts of your personality that don’t normally shine through.
So how can you do this?
First, decide what traits you want your alter ego to have. Do you wish you were more outgoing? More confident? Quieter, louder, more adventurous? Make a list of goals and desired traits. Then give you those traits to your new alter ego.
If you’re normally afraid of public speaking, think about what your alter ego would say. “I’ve got this! I’ve got all the confidence in the world!”
Having an alter ego isn’t like having an imaginary friend or pretending you’re different than you are. It’s simply about empowering yourself to take bold steps in your life. Have fun with it. You can even name your own alter ego. Even Beyonce had an alter ego named Sasha Fierce. What will yours be called? What will it allow you to do?
Creating an alter ego can give you the confidence to go after the things you want in life. Whether you’re looking to change up your habits or simply live life a little more boldly, having an alter ego can be hugely empowering.
Maybe it’s time for you to go from Clark Kent to Superman, or from Bruce Banner to The Hulk. What will your alter ego bring out in your life? Give it a try and find out!
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Trust the Process
Trust the process
I am a control freak. There, I said it. Are you happy? I finally have come to terms with the fact that I want control, love control, and relax when I am in control. It really has been one of my most difficult traits, and I have had to learn to adjust it. Not let go of it completely, but adjust it.
I’ve always been the type of person who plants a seed and then messes with it until it’s damaged. And then I see that I’ve caused the growth to slow down or worse, to never grow at all, just from my interference.
I have learned over time that once you plant a seed, you have to let it go. It will flourish on its own when the time is right. Trying to control or fast forward an outcome is dangerous. Not only can you damage the outcome, but you may miss out on an important part of the developmental stage. Often times, it is in the developmental stage that the “break-through” moments appear.
Every destination comes with a journey. Every journey involves a process. Trying to rush things or control the outcome is a surefire way to end up with damaged goods. I have finally learned that the process is not within my control. And I have had to let it go and trust it.
It is still not an easy thing, but it’s nice to know that the uncertainty the process brings will eventually lead to the ultimate goal. It gives my mind a comfort and more settled feeling when I accept that the process will introduce me to things I didn’t know before I started. So, let it go and trust the process.
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Regrets
A few years ago, a woman named Bronnie Ware wrote an article called Regrets of the Dying, based on her experiences working with people at the end of their lives. What she learned from these individuals was that most humans share similar regrets when they realize they are dying. One of the biggest was always something along the lines of this:
“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
Think about that. At the end of their lives, most people regret not being true to themselves. They regret having done things they were supposed to do rather than things they were passionate about or dreamed about doing. They fell into the rut of expectation and got caught up doing what everyone else was doing or what their parents wanted or their peers expected of them. Their own identities and passions were drowned out by someone else’s opinions of who they should be.
Imagine 20, 30, 50 years into the future…what will your life look like? Will you reach the end of your life and be happy with the way things are? Or will you look back and remember the passion you had for music. The curiosity you had about travel. The desire you had to be a fashion designer. The urge to be an artist. Will you remember those passions as things that could have been? Or will they be the memories of the things you actually did?
When we’re young, we always think we have all the time in the world. It’s easy to put off our dreams for our lives in order to pursue the sensible path. Sure, you wanted to be a guitarist, but wasn’t it more practical to get that office job instead?
Maybe. Sometimes choosing the practical path really is the right choice for your life. But when you make a decision and plot which way your life will go, ask yourself this: is this what I really want?
I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to be lying on my deathbed thinking about all the things I could have done with my life. I want to really do those things! So what if society says you should graduate high school, go to college, get an office job, and work until you’re 65. If you have a burning passion to pursue a music career or become a dancer or write a book, do it! Don’t die with the music still inside of you. Chase after those dreams with all you’ve got.
You only have one life. You can either live it the way others think you should or you can live it authentically, following your dreams. The choice is yours, but you’re a lot less likely to live (and die) with regrets if you’re able to be true to yourself now. Give it a shot! -
Taking a Leap of Faith
Taking a Leap of Faith
We like to end every episode of The Nooner Show with the famous quote by Margaret Shepard,
“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.”
It’s a nice sentiment, but what does it really mean? Are you supposed to make a life-altering decision and then just go for it? Is it blind faith? I don’t think so.
Major life-changing decisions need to be well thought out. You have to plan, organize, work hard, and often struggle in order to reach your goals. But there comes a point after you’ve made all the right decisions to lead you in the direction of change, that you can’t analyze things any further. Hard work will only take you so far. And when you reach that point, there’s only one thing you can do. You have to rely on faith.
If you have a goal or dream burning in your soul and you’ve analyzed the pros and cons of that dream and developed a plan, then at that point you just have to take a leap of faith. You have to believe it’ll work out.
In other words, put the action in place. Lay the groundwork first. You won’t know until you try. And if you don’t try it, someone else will. So why not let it be you? It could be the one decision that changes your life forever! Why the hell not?