Create your own superhero
"Life is not an easy matter. You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness."
Leon Trotsky
Back in the 80's, I traveled the rock climbing circuit in the Western US and Canada. I managed to bag a few summits, but along the way, I got some good exposure to the climbing subculture. Naturally, there was lots of talk about the big-name personalities of alpinism, but one name emerged as a particular stand-out: Peter Croft. Rumor had it that he was Canadian, but he was now a Yosemite local, one of our own, and we were completely blown away.
Croft was one of the original free soloists, an audacious, visionary activist. His ropeless solo ascent of Astroman in Yosemite Valley still stands as a singular achievement, a world-class act of athleticism and artistry.
Croft was well known, not just for his outrageous acts of physicality, but also for the quality of his motivation. Apparently unconcerned with his rank in the pecking order or the common bickering that's so popular among social primates, Croft seemed to do it for all the right reasons. He was modest, friendly and driven by the experience itself.
Today, everyone in the climbing world talks about Croft's achievements, but we tend to forget his training methods. That is, Croft didn't really train in the conventional sense; he never did specialized workouts. Instead, he got good at climbing by climbing - miles and miles of climbing. And, he fueled his imagination by reading about superheroes.
Just imagine the scene: Croft relaxing in the meadow below Yosemite's El Capitan, flanked by a bag of food on one side and a pile of comic books on the other. The weather is gorgeous and the cliffs are beckoning in their glory and immensity. He's just returned from some audacious trip up the wall, maybe flashing the Nose in a few hours or running laps on the Rostrum, a soaring tower just down the canyon.
He scans the cliffs for possible lines of weakness, eats another sandwich and then reads another comic book. Superheroes burst from the pages with their own displays of power, skill and capability. Croft, already in some altered universe of physical capability, ponders the outer reaches of the possible, fired by imagination. That night, he rises at midnight, grabs his shoes and chalk sack and begins another 10,000 foot vertical journey.
create your own
Given the audacity of his achievements, it's easy to forget that Croft is a member of our own species. We stand in awe of what he has accomplished. Few of us would even dare to dream at his level. And yet, we can borrow some of his methods and tweak them for our own purposes. His "train hard-rest hard" cycle is a good place to begin of course, but we can also look to the superheroes to trigger our own imaginations.
For Croft, world-class superheroes were ideal motivators. He was already operating at the fringe of human capability, so it made sense to draw on the ultimate powers of the greatest Marvel characters: world-class athletes need world-class superheroes to keep them going.
But for most of us, the standard line-up of superheroes doesn't work quite so well. We have diverse needs and not all of them involve elite level physicality. If you're struggling to simply get some movement into your life a few times a week, Spider Man might not be much use. If you're trying to balance the demands of work and family, the Incredible Hulk might not be particularly relevant. If you're struggling with relationships, emotions or professional issues, Captain American might not do you much good.
Instead, we need something personal, something customized. We need our own superheroes, superheroes that do what we do, only a little bit better. So, why don't we just sit down and create our own?
What would your personal superhero(ine) look like? What would his or her powers be? What kind of adventures would he have? How would he solve problems? What are his goals, his values, his curiosities? How would he meet the challenges that you have to face in your own life?
process
Obviously, you can design your personal superhero any way you like, but there are a few ideas you might want to keep in mind. First, he or she ought to have a high degree of relevance to your own life. He or she would have adventures, of course, but many of these challenges would be similar to the ones that you're likely to face yourself.
It will be tempting to make your superhero immensely powerful and hyper-capable, but that may not be the best approach. Paradoxically, the most powerful personal superheroes are only slightly more powerful than their creators. Outrageous power is too distant, too unreal, too abstract.
What we're looking for here is something that's just slightly out of reach, something tantalizing, something rare, but only slightly "super." We want an inspiration that's powerful, but not outrageously so. The ideal superhero is a little stronger, a little more capable, a little more creative, a little more of everything we'd like to be.
There's a lot we can do with this exercise. We could do classroom exercises with young people. We could use the process in counseling or in health care. We could use it to improve professional performance. The process is completely open-ended and free. We can do it on our own or we can do it in groups.
homework
It would be great if you could draw a picture of your personal superhero, but a written description might be even better. So here's your homework assignment: put your fingers on the keyboard and start laying down some language. Give your superhero a name and a general description. List his physical, mental and spiritual qualities. Talk about his history, his family and his social circles. Describe his personality and disposition. Tell some stories about his adventures, struggles and successes. Flesh it all out with lots of detail.
Naturally, you aren't going to get it right the first time. Rather, your customized superhero will be a work in progress. Just when you think you've got him fleshed out, you'll realize that he really needs something else, a refinement. So keep at it. Every time you encounter a new challenge or frustration, go back to your description and adjust your superhero. Give him a little more sophistication.
You can use your personal superhero however you like, but chances are, you'll notice that the process will tend to feed off itself. The very act of thinking about, writing about and creating this image will carry over into the rest of your life. Next time you find yourself frustrated by a difficult personal challenge, you just might ask the question: "What would my personal superhero do?"
the primal scholar
To give you an idea of how this process might work, I've decided to share my personal superhero with you. (Promise not to laugh!) I won't tell you all of his qualities because some of them are private, but I will give you the general idea. Naturally, this superhero speaks to my values, my struggles, my dreams and my needs. Your superhero will be your own.
Name: The primal scholar
General qualities: A hybrid creature of robust physicality and intellectual curiosity. One foot in the Paleolithic, one foot in the modern world. Equally fluent in physical movement and abstract inquiry. Knows the earth and his animal origins, but can travel in the world of sophistication and culture as necessary.
Philosophical interests: Thrives on oxymoronic combinations such as hard-soft, strong-weak, yin-yang, disciplined anarchy, peaceful warrior. Iconoclastic, feral; thinks outside traditional channels. Seeks creative recombinations of familiar ideas.
Physical: A multi-sport, middle distance amateur athlete. Resists specializations. Plays for the sake of play. Relishes movement of all varieties, especially rhythm and oscillation. Seeks community in joyful movement.
Values: Balance and proportion. Authenticity. Exuberance and experience. Integrity - a high degree of coherence between walk and talk. Wildness and biophilia; loves the natural world.
Psychological qualities: High ambiguity tolerance, interest in new ideas. Neophilic. Intensely curious. Skeptical, but willing to be convinced with new information. Willingness to relinquish dysfunctional ideas and attachments. Aesthetic orientation; drawn to beauty of all sorts.
Social skills: A free and independent animal with strong community affiliations. Socially graceful and compassionate. Articulate, but also a good listener. Considerate and inclusive. Remembers names. Good story teller. Builds community through "appreciations." Dedicated to non-violent activism.
Emotional life: Able to both regulate and express emotion. Recognizes and acknowledges emotions such as sadness, joy, frustration, anger and jealously when they arise. Expresses emotion through multiple channels: language, art, music and movement. Integrates emotion into learning new skills.
Problem solving style: Thoughtful, but active. Lateral thinking. Never rushes to an impulsive solution. Willing to live in the midst of chaos. Seeks Kairos (ancient Greek word meaning the "right or opportune moment.")
Lifestyle: Epicurean delight in the sensual pleasures, but never a glutton. Aware of habit and ability to create new behavior. Occasional feasting and celebration.
General disposition: Pronoia (the antidote to paranoia). Looks for humor in every situation and from every possible direction. Refuses to despair.
Matters of the heart: Hopelessly romantic. Given to intimacy. A chivalrous gentleman; a knight in white satin.
Goals and objectives: To travel the world- listening, watching and connecting to people, cultures and the earth. Creating art: visual and rhythmic.
