It’s been written many times by many people (myself included), that a correct mindset is an essential part of the goal achievement process. I recently read another article about it, using a superhero twist, and that article made me want to revisit the subject. Read on to find out how a superhero can help you…
In his article, Peter Cook (who I’ll tell you more about later), suggests that a great way of coming up with creative ideas is to imagine you are a superhero. Once you get into that frame of mind, you should then come up with ideas and solutions that the superhero would think of rather than ones you would think ok.
Whereas your ‘own’ ideas are in all probability filtered by limits of what you think can or cannot be done, a superhero has no such filters. Anything is possible for a superhero, right?
It can be easy to dismiss this idea as childish or unrealistic, but instead of dismissing it as unrealistic, we should embrace the idea for precisely that reason!
That lack of constraint, fuelled by your imagination of what superheroes are like, can unleash some genuinely great ideas. Yes, there will be plenty of dud ideas in there, but that’s the whole point of brainstorming – to tap into a stream of thought you normally keep a lid on.
Lifting that lid may surprise you with what your brain can come up with!
So that’s the general idea of Peter’s article, and before I give my own twist to it, let me tell you about him. Peter Cook is the managing director of Human Dynamics, http://www.humdyn.co.uk which offers consultancy in innovation and creativity. An author as well, he uses his musical skills to tie up what he teaches.
I’ve ruined many a good song on stage with him, and here’s the twist I thought of to his superhero idea…
As well as imagining how a superhero might think to get towards your goal, how about imagining what a real, specific person might think?
As part of the goal setting process, it always helps to find out what others have done to get to the goal before you. It’s unlikely you are the first, and there will usually be long list of people you can study, and then follow in their foot steps.
As well as their actions though, don’t overlook the value of digging into their thoughts! Read up on these people, get a biography if possible. The more you know of how they thought, the easier it becomes to imagine yourself in their shoes.
Then at the various stages between where you are now and where you want to be, you can ask yourself how that person would have felt – what they would do next.
It can provide reassurance if the going gets tough, and inspiration if you find yourself at a crossroads.
So to sum up, if you combine the unrestrained imagination of a superhero with the mindset of a real and specific goal achiever, you can see that you are giving yourself powerful tools to drive you towards your goal.
This is exactly the kind of idea I talk about in my book ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days!’ which you can download right now, even if it’s 2am in the morning!
