Hello and welcome back to Brain in the Game. Brain in the Game is a podcast that's been specifically designed for athletes, coaches, and parents who are looking to do their sport just that little bit smarter. And I'm your host, Dave Diggle.
In this Episode 87, we're going to answer that all important question:
Are superheroes real?
Spoiler alert: yes, of course they are.
Well, sort of. We are, of course, referring to those alter-ego versions of our own internal superheroes. Rather than those actual web-flinging, cape-wearing, spandex-clad ones, our minds instantly jump to. We're referring to our performance egos. This is a sports podcast after all, so we want to look and focus on, how do they affect us as an athlete or as a coach? The alter ego is a reflection on who we want to be, the 'if only' aspect of who we are. If only I was more confident. If only I had better communication. If only when I said things, people listened to me and the right things happened. If only I was better. So this 'if only' aspect often drives the alter ego. Many performers create alter egos, in an effort to perform in a way that makes them feel way more comfortable and confident in who they are.
I think the most famous on-stage version is Beyonce's Sasha Fierce. She created this personification, this alter ego, to be able to step out on the stage and perform without the nerves. I myself create an alter ego every single time I step out and I'm either lecturing or I'm running a big event, or I'm standing on a stage in front of, could be as little as 10 people or as much as a couple of thousand people. I create an alter ego that allows me to be the best version of me and step on that stage. If any of you have ever seen any of my online stuff and see me in my office, then you'll probably be aware of what that alter ego is. But we'll get to that later. Alter egos are the next level of ourselves. They save the day just like those other superheroes. So why do we find it necessary to create these alter egos? Are we not happy with who we are? Are we not confident enough to perform? Do we not believe in our preparation? And I won't even dignify that with a response right now. But I will say they are very, very important to all performance.
We look at these alter egos as a freer version of ourselves, one without the shackles. The alter ego is normally born from fear or a sense of inadequacy and it's designed to protect us as humans, not only physically, but more importantly, mentally and emotionally. And they're designed to hide aspects of our personality we feel vulnerable, weak, or prone to exploitation and failure.
So if we think about it, the alter ego's role predominantly is risk mitigation. Be that the risk mitigation of what others may think of us, of what social media – and that's huge these days – social media has driven an increase in athletes sense of inadequacy, which in turn drives an importance in their mind of being somebody else when they perform. But it could also be judges, teammates, parents, partners. All of these people can have a creation in, or part to play in, the creation of that athlete's alter ego.
Or quite simply, it's our own internal dialogue, our own internal conversations that's trying to counteract our imposter syndrome. This is where athletes create an alter ego that is really deep seated to hide those fears, those anxieties that they're feeling inside. Covering up a flaw we think may be exploited.
The brain is designed for self preservation and to do whatever it possibly can to limit damage, as I said before, be that physical, emotional, or psychological. The alter ego really is our own self superhero, a performer we've created to overcome those flaws that we think we have. However, all normal alter egos have flaws too. We've identified already that the whole purpose of an alter ego is not high performance at all. It's about risk mitigation. It's about covering up those flaws that we think we have, those vulnerabilities. When we think about the primary role of an alter ego, it's not necessarily high performance. If we think about those other superheroes, those web-flinging, cape-wearing, spandex-clad ones we talked about at the start of this, they also have flaws. And when we look at the psychology of superheroes, it's really, really important when we're thinking about creating an alter ego to really understand where the notion of a superhero comes from.
So let's just talk about the fictitious ones first of all. Like Superman, his weakness is Kryptonite. You put Kryptonite near Superman and he's useless. Batman, he was just a human who used tech, and expensive tech, to fight crime. We think about Iron Man who's got his suit that's impacted by sonic rays. And he's also got a dodgy ticker, dodgy heart. The Hulk had no control over his anger. It happened to him. And he had doses of amnesia that came with that. Spiderman, believe it or not, his weakness was pesticides, which I guess makes sense. And I think the worst one that I've come across in doing some research for this was Wonder Woman, who when she's bound by her Lasso of truth, or whatever that's called, by a man, it makes her weak and she can no longer have any powers. Dear oh dear, I'm glad we've moved on from that.
So if we think about these fictitious superheroes that we've created that we look up to, the reason that we, as humans, can akin to these people is because, one, they're a next level version of ourselves, but they've got these weaknesses, they've got these aspects of who they are that allow us to feel that we can connect with them. They're not perfect. And because of that, we see their flaws. Humans are hard wired to see connection in other people. So we're pack animals, we want to see other people that are like us. And we also look up to people that are like us, but are doing better than us because we want to be led by those. We want to be influenced and nurtured by those people. But we're also hard wired to see the flaws in their behaviours, to see them as human. And in that aspect, when we look to these superheroes and we see Superman who gets weakened by a Kryptonite, yes, we want to rally behind you and you save the world. But we're also thinking, Oh, they're not as strong and resilient and bulletproof as they make out to be. So that's an aspect of creating an alter ego that we've got to be really cautious of. And the second reason is traditionally alter egos can be an issue of not optimised. Like I said at the start, it's not necessarily about high performance. It's not about being the best at absolutely everything you put your hand to. When we think about the alter ego, what we're trying to create is the best version of ourselves, not necessarily somebody who's great out there that people look up to and go, Well, I can see you're human, I can see your flaws, but we like you anyway.
When I'm working with young kids and we choose to only see the super in people, I'll often say to them, Who's your superhero? Who's the person that you look up to? And when they're very young, they'll turn around and go, their mum and dad. Because we all look at our parents when we're little and go, They're a superhero. They can do everything. If I've got a problem, they're going to solve it. If I'm scared of something, they'll come in and they'll get rid of it. If it's a ghost in my room or it's a monster under my bed, then mum and dad will come in and sort it out for me. But as we get into our teens and we realise that our parents are human, our parents make mistakes, they're flawed, they're not necessarily bulletproof. They won't necessarily rock up in the middle of the night and just go under the bed and get rid of the monster or frighten off the ghosts in your bedroom. They're human too. They have their own fears. So when we're growing up, we go through this transitional period of looking at what we thought was a superhero, to then automatically going, Yeah, but they're nowhere near as good as they should be.
That's a challenge when we're creating a performance alter ego. When you think of other humans, even super versions, we are wired to see their vulnerabilities, like I said. It decreases our own sense of inadequacy. If we can see in a superhero that they've got flaws, then we're a little less harsh on ourselves. And it makes them more relatable to us. So if we can see their flaws and we can see that they're surviving and thriving and saving the world, then maybe we'll go, Maybe I can too. So we're always coming from a place of trying to build up the areas that we see as a flaw in ourselves, the vulnerabilities, like I said, those areas where we think that we're going to be vulnerable to either external or internal failings.
Todd Herman wrote a great book on the alter ego called 'The Alter Ego Effect', how great performers use the alter ego from athletes through to CEOs, politicians, performers – we've already talked about Beyonce's Sasha Fierce. And in Todd's book, he really uncovers the role that the alter ego plays in this performance perspective. So if you want a good book to read, I suggest you go and read Todd's book.
However, as great as Todd's book is, I believe we've come further than that. Let me explain. The process of creating the alter ego is quite detailed, and an important framework to get it right, to create such a sustainable alter ego, one that is bulletproof, the one that every single time that you step up to perform, it's there for you. So when we go through that process creating that, it's not just about naming a character and go, Right, that's me when I perform, because that won't stick. That won't be robust enough under pressure when things aren't going right to be able to click in and protect you and move forward. So when we're creating an alter ego personification, what we need to do first is to identify the lead characteristics you're looking for. When you step up and perform, it's not about just doing your routine. It's not just about going out there in front of everybody and performing. What are the characteristics you're specifically looking for in that superhero? Not all superheroes are made equal, right? Some fly, some have webs, some are just tech driven billionaires. So how do you do we create that?
We've got to recognise the need first. What do those characteristics give you when you do use them? And why is that so important to you? We need to understand that. It's not just about having every skillset, it's about having the skillsets necessary for you to step up and perform. So being able to identify those characteristics and then what that characteristic gives you and why that's so important to you is paramount. Then it's about building a personification to own those characteristics like a shell or like a vehicle. And this is where what we've historically seen people's personifications are they've got shields on or they've got armor plating around them to protect them. That shell, that vehicle that we want to put those characteristics in. Then we need to embed them and see how they're used, almost wear them on, try them out, visualise with them, create. If I wear this kind of characteristic and this is what it does for me, what would that do when I'm standing on stage? What would that do when I'm out in front of 50,000 people and I've got to kick a goal? What does it do when I'm the only one standing out there and all the eyes are on me?
That wearing of those characteristics, that shell, that vehicle that you've created, will give you a really good indication of, Is it the right one for me? Then we need to actively engage it, to trigger it, to turn it on and to be able to turn it off, to use it just when you need it. Again, I'm going to reference the superheroes. Superheroes aren't superheroes all the time. Clark Kent had to run inside a telephone booth in order to turn into Superman. Batman's got his cave. All the others have their own triggers to switch on and switch off that superhero. If we don't know how to switch it on, we can't use it. If we don't know how to switch it off, then we burn out. And we also dilute how efficient and how effective that alter ego is. So we've got to use it for purpose. So we don't just use it all the time. We're not just bulletproof all the time. We need to have how do we switch it on, how do we switch it off? Then we need to be able to recognise and reward that, so we give it value.
And the last aspect of how we create this alter ego is we've got to keep evolving, we've got to keep developing. It's got to be fit for purpose. As we move through our sporting career, the requirements on that alter ego is going to shift. You might go from being a junior in a team to being a senior, to being one of the leaders or in a leadership group, or maybe being the team captain. Whatever those roles are, you're constantly going to need to evolve your characteristics that are required for you to be the best version of you. So having a mindset of, You know what? It's not perfect. It's not exactly the end product right now, but it's the best product that I need right now. That's super critical, and we can keep evolving it.
When we think about what we've got here in the Smart Mind, our base level alter ego that we create is number one, the non athlete, number two is the student athlete, and number three is the performer. When we look at those, this is the introduction to our athletes, the alter ego effect, how we create a different personification and different necessity for each stage of requirement.
So there's a huge difference between the non athlete version of you to the student version of you when you go training and it's about pushing boundaries, trying new things and evolving your skillset. To the performer version, which is just rocking up, rock solid and performing. These are all alter egos. These are all aspects of your performer mode that we're tapping into based on the necessity and the characteristics required to be the best version of you at that time.
However, we've taken that to a whole new concept, a next level in the high performance programme that we teach here. And it's not just about risk mitigation, it's not just about trying to be relatable to other athletes, it's not just about covering up what you perceive as those vulnerable aspects, the areas where you feel most at risk. It's about optimisation. And the way that we create that, and like I said to you at the start, I use an alter ego or personification, if you like, when I lecture, when I step up, when I'm running trainings, when I'm on a panel. Each one of those have a different requirement from me. If I'm sitting on a panel and I'm asking questions versus standing in front of thousands of people trying to teach them all about mental performance, there's a different requirement in that.
And one of my personifications, rather than using a vulnerable human, is I use an animal. And the reason I use an animal is because when we look at humans, we're hard wired to see their flaws. But if I ask you to look at maybe a wolf, or a bear, or a lion, or something like that, you don't necessarily see their flaws. All you see is their strengths. And because of that, it allows us as performers to be able to step into a whole new world, one that isn't driven by protection and hiding vulnerabilities. It's into dominant characteristics. So a lot of my performers, when they step out onto the field of play, step into this alter ego version of themselves that's been built specifically for them. And we've seen some phenomenal results when athletes have really adopted being able to step in and step out of these different alter ego skins, if you like.
So above and beyond the normal Sasha Fierce alter ego, the person that's designed specifically to perform and cover up the vulnerabilities. There are so many aspects to creating an efficient alter ego that is way beyond those shallow versions. So what we've done here is talk about all the benefits, all the possibilities of creating that stronger, more resilient version of yourself to perform, from the very simplistic version of student and performer mode through to creating a superhero, or going beyond that and creating this personification as an animal.
Each one of those have a different necessity, have a different skillset, and a different set up phase. And we've talked about those of all being positive. But I do want, this is a cautionary tale too, alter egos aren't only positive. An alter ego can be created internally to be a self sabotaging aspect, to be a self saboteur to you, to your performance. That one that goes out there, if you don't believe, if you do have any performance anxiety, if you do have that imposter syndrome that is so deep seeded that you want to self sabotage your performance, then you can subconsciously or even consciously create an alter ego that goes out there, like the anti version of a hero. There's enough villains out there who are just as capable superheroes, but are supervillains. And we can create that inside our own mind. So the alter ego that you go and create to protect you, can also create an alter ego that goes out there to destroy you. So unless you're really versed at how to create the most optimal alter ego that's designed for a purpose to help you perform better, perform smarter, just be cautious.
It can be your undoing, too. So there's a lot in there when we talk about how to use an alter ego, a superhero. When we think about how we create them, when we think about why we create them, we can understand the significance, why so many performers, as I say, be that in business, be that politicians, be that on stage, or be that as an athlete, why so many people create these alter egos, and how much more comfortable it is to step into that version when you're under pressure, when all the eyes are on you, when you know you have to perform.
So, superheroes. Do they exist? Absolutely. We create them every single day. What we've got to do is make sure that the superhero that we create is actually designed to protect us, not hinder us.
Hope you've got a lot from this podcast. It's a little left field. It's something that many athletes know, many coaches encourage, but not a lot is talked about. Creating that performer version of you, creating a confident, focused, diligent, and consistent version of you is what we all want, whether that be yourself as an athlete, whether that be yourself as a coach, the parents, the support crew, or me as a mental performance coach.
What I'm trying to create is that best version of you. This alter ego personification version is a great strategy to do that. It needs to be trained. It needs to be honed and it needs to be grown. So making sure that this is part and parcel of your preparation process is super critical. Hence, we have the non athlete, the student athlete, and the performer athlete. That's why that's built into our funnel system.
Okay, so I hope you've got a lot from this episode of Brain in the Game. It is one of those curly ones. It's one of those ones that, as I say, we all talk about, but no one really, really unpacks. I look forward to speaking to you again on the next podcast. Until then, train smart and enjoy the ride. My name's Dave Diggle and I'm your mental performance specialist.
