In today's virtual and capitalist society, superheroes have become a captivating and marketable concept. Superheroes possess superpowers beyond human capabilities, making it unattainable for an ordinary human to become one. While superheroes entertain and occasionally motivate, what if we shed the 'super' and utilized our natural human potential to effect real, lasting changes and achieve high performance in our lives?
Our Own Hero’s Journey
Beneath each human lies a potential hero awaiting realization. To unveil this inner hero, we must embrace that being human inherently embodies perfection, strength, confidence, and power. Our task lies in peeling back layers to reveal this heroic wholeness.
However, this task demands courage. Aristotle said, 'Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.' Courage drives action, allowing us to confront fear, pain, doubt, and both known and unknown challenges.
Courage prompts us to dream big and then dream even bigger. In business, Jim Collins termed this as a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)—a bold mission inspiring progress by challenging employees to think and act differently. JFK's 1961 proclamation to land a man on the moon exemplified a BHAG, as did the inception of the innovative company Cirque du Soleil.
If our aim is the stars, our current reality forms the launching platform. By taking full responsibility for our lives, embracing both existing and non-existing aspects, we pave the way for implementing new possibilities and solutions. Choosing to be the main actor in our life, rather than a spectator, enables us to design a path towards accomplishing monumental dreams and BHAGs. Crafting our own Hero’s Journey requires courage as a vital ingredient for progress and success.
The Call to Adventure
The Call for Adventure in our inner hero's journey can be triggered by either disempowerment, feeling stuck, or aspiring for advancement. High achievers in sports, politics, and business experience this as overcoming performance anxiety or striving for victories and innovation.
My Human-to-Hero™ coaching model doesn't replace human qualities but amplifies them. Emphasizing authenticity, vulnerability, and truthfulness, this model peels away layers accumulated throughout our lives, revealing our natural greatness. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.' Let the hero emerge through being human by creating accomplishments representing our will to live, work positively, grow, and make a difference.
Meeting the Guide
Just as iconic characters like Yoda and Gandalf assist heroes on their quests, a professional coach plays the role of a guide in our Human-to-Hero™ Journey. They walk alongside us, guiding rather than acting on our behalf, from start to finish and beyond.
The Unknown & Limitless World
This phase mirrors the middle part of the Hero's Journey, where the hero confronts challenges, foes, and inner conflicts to progress. Identifying strengths and weaknesses, testing core beliefs, addressing resistance, and shedding protective layers unveils our true heroic selves. Recognizing that true freedom lies in shedding unnecessary baggage becomes crucial.
Developing awareness and emotional intelligence involves recognizing our thoughts and emotions as distinct from ourselves. Creating space between them leads to insights, transformation, and empowerment. We're defined not by our thoughts but by our untapped potential. Trusting ourselves on this transformative journey is pivotal. Acknowledging our starting point allows navigation toward our chosen direction, fostering new thoughts and emotions.
Open communication becomes a prerequisite for transformation to thrive and exist.
This phase often culminates in a major victory—having gained clarity, self-knowledge, new mindsets, and autonomy—preparing the hero for the final stage of their odyssey.
The Home Run
The Home Run represents a new start to express our newly uncovered potential, enrolling others in our updated version of ourselves. It takes courage and integrity to wield new abilities: being, thinking, and acting in boundless ways. As success is born in the process, choosing adventure, setting our game rules, and cherishing the process drive success.
Completing our Human-to-Hero™’s Journey reveals an infinite loop of opportunities and possibilities!
Heroes Are Human
Ultimately, real heroes are human, and every human has a hero within. Their alliance is not in possessing superpowers but in leveraging limitless human power. Heroes work with purpose, driven by change, transformation, growth, and results. Internal change precedes external transformation. Heroes make a difference—a win that is undefeatable. Instead of an “S” for Superhero, there should be an “H” for Hero…and for Human.
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I coach the heroes of this world to excel on and off the course. Some may not recognize their heroism yet; nevertheless, it's their journey. Before earning their respective nicknames of "The Greatest," "MJ," and "Pelé," Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Edson Arantes do Nascimento were individuals letting their inner heroes speak.
My clients and I live by my maxim, 'A dream is like a phone without an answering machine. It will keep ringing until you pick it up.' What do you need, beyond the courage you already possess, to answer the call for yourself?
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