David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”

This week’s theme is all about the Alter Ego Method — a fun way to unlock your confidence and inner strength, with a little help from your imagination.

An Alter Ego is like creating a new best friend who embodies all the traits and strengths you admire or want to develop. 

Many famous and successful figures rely on Alter Egos to get in the zone and perform well: Beyoncé’s “Sasha Fierce,” David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust,” and Dwayne Johnson’s “The Rock” — to name a few.

An Alter Ego can help us get out of our head so we can tackle challenges, reach our goals with a boost of confidence and flair, and honestly… just have a bit more fun with life!

This psychological technique is different from a temporary mask or social persona we might wear. An Alter Ego helps us embrace desirable traits and behaviors, and provides a sense of distance to view situations with greater objectivity so we can push through our comfort zone. 

Now that we know what the Alter Ego method is, we're going to learn how to design our own — so we can integrate our new, confident persona in everyday situations!

First, Choose Your Setting

Let’s talk about where you want your Alter Ego to show up — what area in your life would you like to improve upon? Is there a setting where you'd like to show up in a different way?

Creating an Alter Ego starts with understanding the areas of your life where you feel stuck or frustrated.

The first step in creating an Alter Ego is to clearly define why you need one and identify the specific area of your life where you want it to make an impact.

Start by pinpointing the area where you feel you’re struggling or where you want to see improvement.

Is it boosting your confidence with public speaking, or in job interviews? Feeling more creative in your personal projects? Or managing stress more effectively? 

Knowing exactly where you want your Alter Ego to show up allows you to tailor their traits and actions to address these specific needs. This approach ensures that your alter ego becomes a powerful tool for change and personal growth.

Questions to Ask Yourself

🤔 Define your motivation: Why do you want an alter ego? What goals or improvements are you aiming for and how will your alter ego help you get there? 

🎯 Identify the target area: Where do you want your alter ego to make an impact? Is it public speaking, stress management, or something else?

🔍 Assess current challenges: What frustrations or obstacles are you facing in this area?

Design Your Alter Ego

Now we get to do the fun part — creating the perfect Alter Ego for us! 

Designing your Alter Ego involves crafting a persona with specific characteristics and traits that align with your personal goals. 

Start by defining the attributes you want your Alter Ego to embody, such as confidence, creativity, or assertiveness. Make a list of those desired qualities. 

Next, to really help us visualize this character: think of who this person is — is there someone, famous or not, perhaps a fictional character, that you look up to because they embody these traits? What’s the background story of this person? 

What name would you give them? You can take inspiration from some successful public figures we mentioned, like Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, and Dwayne Johnson’s The Rock. Choose a set of behaviors and life experiences you would like to emulate, and associate them with your Alter Ego.

Once your alter ego is well-defined, use visualization techniques to mentally and emotionally embody this persona. Let your imagination run wild here, and have fun with it.

This will help you integrate the Alter Ego's traits into your daily life, making it easier to adopt these qualities when needed.

3-Step Design Process

🔍 Select relevant traits: What qualities does your alter ego have to tackle these challenges? Jot these down in your journal and really visualize yourself displaying these traits.

🌟 Create the identity: Give them a name, think about what they look like and how they dress; develop a ‘heroic’ backstory, almost like you’re writing for a TV show.

👓 Find an item that will help you activate your alter ego when needed — something like a pair of glasses, a ring, or a cape, serving as a small version of a full costume.

Integrate Your Alter Ego

Let's talk about how practical and actionable ways to make our Alter Ego a consistent and effective part of our daily routine. 

By integrating imaginative personas into everyday situations, we can leverage their strengths to enhance our performance, especially in scenarios where we’re feeling challenged, inadequate, or stuck. 

For example, are you interviewing for a new job? If your Alter Ego is known for their confidence and great communication skills, you might practice embodying this trait during interviews, meetings or public speaking engagements.

Think about other factors that this Alter Ego displays — body language, voice, appearance, and mannerisms.

Building consistency is key. Create routines or rituals that remind you to tap into your Alter Ego’s attributes regularly.

This could be as simple as starting your day with a specific affirmation or visualizing your persona before stepping out of the house. The goal is to make your Alter Ego's traits a natural part of your behavior.

Be mindful of any doubts or difficulties in maintaining your Alter Ego’s presence. Regularly assess how your persona is fitting into your life and make adjustments as necessary to ensure that they continue to serve your goals effectively.

Strategies to integrate your Alter Ego into your everyday life:

✨ Activate your persona in various low stakes settings, such as with friends and family, new social situations or meetings.

🔄 Establish daily routines to reinforce your Alter Ego’s presence. For example, start your day with a specific affirmation, or use a visual reminder (maybe even the picture of your Alter Ego, if they’re a real person or character).

🧠 Visualize: Imagine your alter ego in action through guided imagery or meditation (what are they wearing, how do they walk, speak, etc)

Final Thoughts

Alter Egos are powerful because they can allow us to channel an empowered version of ourselves without the mental limitations that we might impose on ourselves.

Tangible benefits of harnessing our Alter Ego include: increased confidence, better performance in tough situations, improved stress management — and honestly, just having a bit of fun with life.

If you decide to try the Alter Ego method, I want to leave you with a few questions to help you evolve your persona over time: How will this persona learn and grow? How do you know if it’s working?

As you progress and grow, your Alter Ego should evolve to reflect your changing goals and experiences. This involves periodically reassessing your goals and challenges to ensure your Alter Ego remains relevant and supportive.

If your persona is no longer serving you, design a new one!

I hope this was a fun technique for you to try, and our whole team would love to hear how it went for you. Thanks for experimenting with us 😁

See you around some of the sessions this week,

— Farah, focused space host