One of the Alter Ego shifts I enjoy making the most is back to Dad.
As you know, family is one of my key drivers and showing up without business-day-jet-lag is essential for me (and for them).
And kids, well, they demand your “A” game as they’re often everything all at once.
In fact, if you listen to Neuroscientists, becoming who we are is a “pruning” process. We start out as this dense forest that slowly gets thinned out so each tree can grow tall. This pruning creates our world and soon it’s all we can see.
That’s why I can’t stand the question: what do you want to be when you grow up?
Because the orchard of who we could be is clear-cut into a single, solitary tree. After, we can no longer see the forest of who we could be for the tree we’ve chosen . . . so we get stuck in the ordinary world and can’t see a way out.
[For those not from rural Alberta, clear-cutting is the practice of cutting down most or all of the trees in a given section of forest all at once.]
The danger here is the “what if”.
- What if we don’t become that thing (that tree) we said we wanted to be?
- Or what if we don’t get to stay that thing for very long?
- Or what if we only said we wanted to be that thing to please a parent, or coach, or teacher?
A better question for kids to consider would be: what are all the things you want to do?
Because “doing” is fun.
“Pilot” is a label not an identity. It’s a “what” not a “who”. It’s too flat. Too limiting. It has very little life in it.
But . . .
- “fly jets,”
- “climb mountains,”
- “paint masterpieces,”
Or play in front of a sold out arena . . . that is a dynamic life of adventure. And that’s what a “who” does. And a “who” is a dynamic identity not a flat label.
Just imagine if someone like Hedy Lamar only aspired to be a beautiful movie star. We might not have Wi-Fi (which is built off the torpedo guidance system she helped develop during World War II).
Or if Brian May (lead guitarist of Queen, and “We Will Rock You” fame) only wanted to wail on stage. He would never have become an Astrophysicist and we wouldn’t have his “zodiac rock dust”. Both Hedy and Brian expanded their field of play and had a greater impact on humanity. They became cultivated forests not solitary trees.
The clear-cutting that happens to us as kids is one of the main reasons I’m needed, and why I do what I do. I help you see what you can’t see.
“What’s . . . that . . . Todd?”
“I’ll tell you, Margo”
“The Extraordinary World.”
It sits behind your eyes, seen only by the Core Self who is blocked by this trapped version of you. Once I can help you see what you can’t see, you can unlock and unleash your Heroic Self.
And then you can get to work rebuilding the forest, grafting back on branches that were wrongly pruned off, and adding roots and fruit. (Too far for this extended metaphor? I think not).
Are you tired of being a one tree forest? Do you want an invitation to the orchard of the Extraordinary World?
Well, here it is: The Alter Ego Effect™ Method Masterclass.
In this Masterclass you’ll go in-depth into “The Alter Ego Effect™ Method”. Learn to let go of the flat, lifeless labels that trap you in an ordinary world. And finally break off the blinders that keep you from seeing what else is available.
Once freed to see what you can’t see, you’ll be able to uncover your Secret Identity. This will help you step into a better you that will excel in the Extraordinary World.
A better world awaits. It’s just this → click away.
Be Bold. Take Action. Leave a Mark.
Todd Herman
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