It’s time to discover my SuperSelf. This persona, which I will strive to become throughout the course of this journey, should be a pretty good representation of the person I want to be and the life I want to live. Throughout my 28.5 years of life so far, I’ve probably conjured up several versions of what this might look like for myself – ranging from super-powered hero to celebrity actor to rock star to successful business owner. It’s curious to think that my dreams have covered such a wide spectrum of personas, and I’ve only mentioned a handful! But how did I come up with the notion that being a rock star or a super hero would be a great gig? Super heroes get into fights all the time and usually have some sob-story background that motivates them, and most of them wear masks so they can’t even take credit for their actions when they’re not wearing their spandex uniforms! Rock stars get all the chicks, popularity, and celebrity treatment you could ask for but often struggle with substance abuse, privacy, and critical reception. How did these personas get into my head in the first place? The answer is simple: Heroes and role models.
I’m going to share some of my heroes and role models from past and present, and analyze why they appeal to me. The goal? To distill from these heroes a more achievable set of criteria that will accomplish my desired result. These superheroes appear in no particular order.
Examining the Superhero Role Model
Special abilities, super-strength, epic battles and cool costumes. Every little boy probably has at least one superhero-themed birthday party, and every male probably fantasizes about being a superhero well into adulthood. But what makes these characters so appealing? We’re going to look at three examples from my personal repertoire – Iron Man, Goku, James Bond, and the original Red Power Ranger – and sift through the superficial parts to extract the core values that appeal to me the most.
Superhero Role Model #1: Iron Man
Iron Man wears a suit of robotic armor which imbues him with such perks as flight, super-strength, and shooting lasers from his hands. A self-proclaimed “Genius, billionaire, playboy [and] philanthropist,” Tony Stark/Iron Man has it all: women, robot suits, fast cars, and an immaculate goatee. These are some of the good things. But what else does this superhero role model tote? Alcohol dependencies, daddy issues, heart problems, war-mongering, and strained relationships with friends and allies – yikes! Superman’s an orphan, but at least he had caring adoptive parents, a solid upbringing, perfect health and an unfaltering moral compass. So why do I prefer the idea of Iron Man over the Man of Steel? Because Superman has it too easy. Iron Man exists in a world where Captain America, Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men and Thor are running around with innate superpowers. The difference? Iron Man wasn’t born a Mutant, didn’t suffer some freak superpower-inducing accident, or descend from Norse gods. Someone gave the Captain his powers, Spider-Man got bitten by a spider because he wasn’t paying attention, and the Hulk accidentally fried himself with radiation. The X-Men, Thor, and Superman were born super-beings. Iron Man, on the other hand, is a self-made superhero (and he did it on purpose, Banner!). He saw a need and an opportunity, and he innovated. He has near-unlimited money, and yet he didn’t outsource or delegate his armor production to someone else. He grabbed a hammer and got to work until the job was done.
So what can we learn from my infatuation with Iron Man? If we were to filter out all of the fleeting desires to have super-strength and laser beams coming out of my palms, I would boil it down to the following appealing qualities. Iron Man is an innovator, a witty genius, and a self-made superhero. If I get rid of the noise of rocket boots and drinking problems, it comes down to these three things. Happily, I already consider myself witty and very smart, and I while my track record doesn’t indicate that I’m an innovator right now I’m not sure that bothers me. That leaves us with the self-made superhero quality, and it is this quality that we will extract from Iron Man and put on the to-do list. And also rocket boots.
Superhero Role Model #2: Goku
A super-baby from outer space crash lands on Earth, is taken in and raised by humans, and ultimately grows up to be the greatest defender of our planet. Still not talking about Superman – Goku from the Dragon Ball Z series is next on the list. The humble do-gooder is a Martial arts master who can throw Streetfighter-esque fireballs, fly, teleport, and instantly multiply his power and change his hair from black to gold by getting angry. Cool! He’s also kind of dumb (never went to school), can’t drive a car, and has gotten himself killed two or three times.
So why Goku, you ask? This is a tougher one to decipher. Goku has the unwavering boyscout code of conduct that Superman totes, and that definitely motivates him to defend the world and all of that – but that’s not all that motivates him when facing off against a killer robot or a giant space monkey or a genetically-engineered killing machine. Goku loves a challenge. He loves the thrill of pushing his limits and acknowledges that pushing his limits is the best way to improve. Not only is excited to go toe-to-toe against a foe that could very easily be more powerful, he’s also extremely humble when beaten and sees it as an opportunity to get better. Let’s distill this blurb into the following trait: Goku isn’t afraid to take on overwhelming challenges head-on, be it for personal improvement or because it’s necessary to avoid planetary destruction. Another easy one to extract from Goku is that, when he shows up on the scene, everyone else feels better off. On the battlefield, he puts his allies at ease because he’s not afraid and wields incredible power. Off the battlefield, he’s appreciative of the important things in life (friends, family, etc) and is free-spirited and carefree. All in all, being around him has a positive effect because he’s a constant, reassuring good force in the universe. That’ll be a tough one to nail, but it’s going on the list.s, and ultimately grows up to be the greatest defender of our planet. Still not talking about Superman – Goku from the Dragon Ball Z series is next on the list. The humble do-gooder is a Martial arts master who can throw Streetfighter-esque fireballs, fly, teleport, and instantly multiply his power and change his hair from black to gold by getting angry. Cool! He’s also kind of dumb (never went to school), can’t drive a car, and has gotten himself killed two or three times.
Superhero Role Model #3: Red Power Ranger
The original Red Ranger was awesome. While you won’t often find me sporting red clothing, if I were to pick a Power Ranger to be it would be the Red Ranger. He rocked a sword and a laser gun at the same time, was a master of martial arts, and when the going got tough he got into a giant robot T-Rex. When his team mates combined their powers (and giant robots), who was at the helm? The Red Ranger. Whether they were combining their weapons into some ridiculous sword/bow/lance/axe/dagger combination that shot giant lasers or the giant robots combined into an even bigger robot, it was the Red Ranger with his finger on the trigger or his hands on the controls. Not a bad gig.
So what does the Red Ranger offer in terms of viable personality traits? Not a whole lot, actually; while this may surprise you, TV characters on children’s action shows don’t have a whole lot of depth to them. But there was one function that the Red Ranger served until he left the show – he was a great leader. Boom. On the list.
Superhero Role Model #4: James Bond
Bond is probably one of the more common ones among men, and has the potential for being the most deceptive of my bunch. When people think of James Bond, they think of tuxedos, gadgets, martinis, girls and guns. This one should be easy, right? Here’s the thing: Tuxedos are out of style and are uncomfortable unless you’re buying a really nice one (which nobody does anymore), my iPhone can do more than most Bond gadgets could in the first 20-30 movies, and I don’t have much of a desire to mess with a gun in real life. Bond girl? Got a great one of those already – check. Martinis? I drink those sometimes, but I’m not too fond of the vodka martini and I’m not about to pay $8-10 for a drink I’m not fond of. Gin martinis? Check. Now that we’ve gotten the obvious stuff out of the way, let’s move on to the stuff that matters to me.
Bond knows how to dress. Period. Tuxedo, suit, casual wear, swim wear – he always looks good. In my opinion, it’s important to know how you’re presenting yourself to the world and know how to use that to your advantage. He’s also in excellent physical condition (probably in better shape at age 45 than I’ve ever been in my life). Finally, Bond gets to travel the world and visit exotic locations; I’ve only been overseas once for a 10-day choir tour that had such a jam-packed itinerary I had a tough time slowing down to enjoy my surroundings.
A Recipe for Awesomeness: The SuperSelf Formula
After spending some time with these super-hero role models of my past and present, I think I’ve extracted the traits that have the most meaning for me. I may never pilot a giant robot dinosaur (tentatively on the list) or shoot fireballs and lasers from my hands while flying through the air, but that’s OK…. for now. I may make a list of “stretch goals” later on to add some of the more fun, unrealistic components just to see what I can pull off, but for now these traits have been added to my SuperSelf Formula:
• Become a self-made superhero – my SuperSelf!
• Fearlessly take on overwhelming or seemingly-impossible challenges
• Be a constant, reassuring good force in the universe
• Be a great leader
• Know how to dress impeccably
• Get in excellent physical condition
• Travel the world and visit exotic locations (boat chases and evil masterminds optional).
Questions and Actions
Your turn. In the comments below, or on the SuperSelf Facebook page, answer the following questions:
- Which superhero role model have you admired or been a fan of for a long time (perhaps since childhood)?
- If you strip away all of the completely unrealistic elements of the character (super powers, seemingly unlimited wealth, etc), what is left that still appeals to you about the character? This can be a personality trait, status, relationship, or unique skill.
- If you could wave a magic wand and instantly acquire this characteristic for yourself, how would it change your life?
Superheroes for the most part are terrible role models. Most superheroes resort to violence to solve problems, and have absolutely no clue, or care for the end result. I am not an anti-comic book, or superhero person. I am the opposite, but I will not be blind to what the methods used by superheroes.
Sure – I even acknowledge in the article that they are flawed (some with significant character flaws). This article was not meant to be so literal about idolizing your childhood superhero favorites; Rather, I was suggesting that we examine which admirable traits draw us to our specific heros in the first place to truly understand which character traits we consider to be admirable and would like to embody ourselves. The comments about rocket boots and shooting lasers and all that were tongue in cheek 😛
Thanks for reading!