Read This If You Like Superhero Movies
(This is a repost/edit of a full blog post I made on Medium a few months ago. I felt it needed to be reshared, here.)
In some, eery parallel universe, in a land far far away, something strange is happening.
One must be endowed, either by the cosmos or some stroke of chance, with the ability to help people.
And if neither the cosmos nor some radioactive bug exists, our only hope of being more than just ourselves is falling into a vat of toxic waste.
I don't know about you, but I have no idea where to find a good, deep vat of toxic waste.
The allure of superhero movies is typically the transformation from the reluctant, mild-mannered, everyday human to the genetically superior and morally obligated superhuman. Only after we are endowed with this unnatural capacity can we train our minds with a small green mentor or train our bodies on some distant, high-gravity planet.
Since we, unfortunately, live here on Earth, this proposes a small dilemma.
No vats. No radioactive bugs. No cosmic alignment.
No alien technology. No Dragon Balls. No Infinity Gauntlet.
Bummer.
So, now what?
Well, you guessed it.
You have to make a choice.
Most people stay stuck and thus choose the belief that "I don't have the ability to change myself, nor can I acquire the ability to change myself. Power and ability are unlearned traits that are solely endowed by fate."
But, not you, right?
Ask yourself something . . .
Do you feel strong when you watch a superhero movie?
Most people do and that's the point. We feel empowered to change the world or at least the part that interests us.
You have to choose if you believe that you can change yourself or if you believe you can't.
Most people choose to be a superhero without knowing it.
The problem with "superhero thinking" is that we often get charged up and attack the problem by ourselves. We suffer for the greater good, make sacrifices, and spin our wheels harder than we ever thought we could.
We charge the beach and don't see the .50 caliber on the shoreline.
Charging a beach alone like a superhero isn't valiant or noble.
It's stupid.
Real-life real-world problems cannot be solved by an individual.
Real-life real-world problems are solved by teams with systems.
Sounds really sexy, right?
"Superhero thinking" is sexy! It's romanticized! Superheroes can do it all!
We want the gadgets, the moral compass, and the abs, oh good lord the abs.
And we want it all before we even start.
We want the diet pill, the salary raise at work, and mountain top mansion all before we change ourselves.
I'm sorry, but we're not superheroes. We're humans.
It's up to us to do all the changing.
The human brain is plastic.
That means that when you practice something a lot, it gets easier.
Your brain isn't a muscle. Your muscles are more like your brain.
The first time you play the piano, it's terrible. You don't have the dexterity you need which makes the process of learning frustrating and unenjoyable.
After two years of performing the same motions over and over, your brain has rewired to make it easier. You can now do something you couldn't do before and guess what?
Now it's fun.
You are the same person.
Same name. Same face. Same DNA.
You just earned a new ability which can serve you in a new way.
Maybe it's a creative outlet that helps you regulate emotions. Maybe it's a source of income. Maybe it's a way to connect with your friends.
Some abilities are easier to learn than others.
For example, if you wanted to learn how to "walk the dog" with a yo-yo, it's probably only going to take you 45 minutes.
If you want to integrate evidence-based learning practices in public school districts across the country, it's probably going to take you a whole career.
So what happens when we raise our children to believe in superheroes?
Look, I'm not saying that superhero movies aren't fun to watch.
They're fantasy. It's fun to pretend we could be like that caped silhouette on the screen.
And that's exactly my point. It's make-believe.
Not just the radioactive, toxic waste part--the whole mindset.
Here are some ways to tell if you are using "superhero thinking" without realizing it:
- Sometimes you have to stay late at work and make sure the job gets done. The keyword here is "sometimes." If you are staying late more days than not, you are probably using "superhero thinking."
- If your work often requires you to make personal sacrifices to get it done, like missing your kid's baseball season, you are probably using "superhero thinking."
- If your mindset is that no one is better than you at this one skill, so you shouldn't let anyone else have the final say about that part of the project, you are probably using "superhero thinking."
- When a teammate breaks something and you run in to take the task away and solve it yourself, you are probably using "superhero thinking."
- If your child continues to struggle in school and you continue to sign absence notes and do their homework for them, you are probably using "superhero thinking."
I sort of tricked you.
I wrote this post about superheroes, but it's really about pragmatism, leadership, and the important commitment we owe ourselves to self-improvement.
It's also about media consumption.
You are what you eat, read, and watch.
We are each from different walks of life and have different predispositions, demons, and access to resources.
Regardless of where you are, today:
- You alone are responsible for deciding what's fantasy and what's real.
- You alone are responsible for developing yourself.
- You alone are responsible for building teams and systems that actually help people, long after you're gone.
Consider this your origin story.
There's no vat. There's no secret government lab. There's no mutating serum.
You are faced with the choice of whether or not to develop your own superpowers with the skills and abilities you have today.
You are faced with the choice of whether or not to decide your own destiny.
You are faced with the choice of whether or not to take responsibility for helping people other than yourself.
We live in a distressed world with real people in it. There are real lives at stake.
You must choose to be the best version of yourself.
You must choose to help others become the best versions of themselves.
You must choose to protect yourself from "superhero thinking."
I know you can do it.
We're all counting on you.
Read This If You Have No Idea What You're Doing
Hint: the answer ISN'T: "no one knows what they're doing, so you're justified. Just keep going."
Well, for starters; congrats.
This is the part where I go on and on about how no one knows what they're doing.
Like this kid in the picture. Get real. He doesn't know how to read that book.
I'll then go on to conclude one of a few platitudes:
- No one knows what they're doing, so you're justified. Just keep going.
- No one knows what they're doing at first, so you're justified. Just monitor yourself until you get there.
- Some people know what they're doing but that's because they worked really hard and now they know things.
- We each have our unique "thing" that we know how to do and life is about finding that thing and sharing it with the world.
Oh, man. I feel like I could keep going, but I'll just stop at 4.
All I want to do is ask you to pay attention to how you're feeling about this.
Where does this feeling of "not knowing what you're doing" come from?
- Is it literally a lack of expertise?
- Is it because you've never done anything like this before?
- Is it imposter syndrome?
None of these questions are impossible to answer.
And none of the answers are impossible to reconcile.
These feelings are just indicators. They're kind of like the check engine light in your car.
They tell you something is wrong, but then you have to actually run a diagnostic check to figure out what's going on. You might be able to do this at home, but you may have to enlist help.
2 Minute Action:
The point I'm making is that I'm not going to tell you "keep trying!"
I'm telling you to identify the feeling and go after it.
Understanding the indicator will help you chase the solution.
If you're afraid, follow the fear.
If you're confident, follow the confidence.
Your 2-minute action might be literally taking 2 minutes to reflect.
It might also be taking 2 minutes to schedule a phone call with a mentor or close friend to talk through this feeling and help you identify it.
Whatever you're doing, it can take just 2 minutes to get the ball rolling.
Read This If You're Waiting For Something
In the "productivity" or "project management" world, things you're waiting on are called dependencies.
In the "productivity" or "project management" world, things you're waiting on are called dependencies.
You're dependent on someone's work to get done so you can start your own.
In complex projects, you may have multiple dependencies--which means even if some of them are ready on time or ahead of schedule if ONE of them is late, your start time is late.
Based on this, you can easily guess that the fewer dependencies you have, the faster you can go because you're in more control of your start/finish times.
One of the reasons startups move so fast is because there are fewer departments, fewer regulations or requirements, and often, fewer stakeholders weighing in.
Faster doesn't always mean better, I'm just pointing out a real-world example, here.
The point is, that whatever you're doing, you may be waiting on dependencies that you have no control over and you might be waiting on dependencies that you can remove.
Distinguishing and scrutinizing dependencies are the skills we're developing, here.
2 Minute Action:
What are the things you're waiting on to finish or even start?
What would happen if you went ahead without them?
If you're a surgeon and you're waiting on the blood-type of your patient, you should probably hold off until you have it. The stakes are high.
For most other scenarios, the stakes aren't very high and you might find that you can get to your goal faster if you eliminate dependencies or if you work in parallel while they're in progress.
So, in 2 minutes, find a dependency you have and challenge it.
Make it fight for its life to stay a dependency.
Your work depends on it.