Halloween and Superpowers

When we were kids, my sister and I would be glued to the television any time Power Rangers came on. We were absolutely obsessed with that show and couldn’t comprehend why it didn’t play on every channel, 24/7. We role played a lot: I was the Green Ranger (I frequently whistled the dragonzord dagger call), and she was the Pink Ranger. We speculated often about what would happen in the next episode (it wasn’t hard to figure out since the plot was always the same). And we would also randomly bust out a “Morphin’ Time!”

Looking back at that experience, what amused us the most wasn’t the multi-colored spandexes nor the biker helmets—it was the concept of superpowers that caught our imagination. Here were six normal folks that functioned in society the same way you and I would, but when they would morph, they would transform into superheroes—people capable of doing things that an average person cannot do. This concept impressed upon us the idea that possessing such traits can potentially change the world for the better (assuming we’re talking about a good guy, of course).

This fascination even extended beyond Power Rangers. We idolized Marvel superheroes, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat characters, dinosaurs (I know they’re not superheroes, but we frikin’ love dinosaurs!), etc. Powers such as superhuman strength/intelligence, x-ray vision, spirit balls—these were all intriguing to our imaginative, overloaded-with-sugar minds. Like a lot of other kids, we believed that one day we too would discover our superpower. However, as the years progressed and we learned a bit of something called science, reality hit us hard. We gradually came to the realization that spitting fireballs and deflecting bullets with our minds would most likely never happen. We thought to ourselves, “it’s impossible…”

Just yesterday while debating if I should dress up for Halloween, I wondered: “do I still believe in superpowers?” In the fictional sense of the word, I hold firm to the belief that superpowers illustrated in TV, games, and comic books are impossible (with a confidence level of 99.99%—left 0.01% to save me from the embarrassment in case someone proves me wrong). However, if we define superpowers as the uncanny ability of a person to achieve a seemingly impossible task, I would say absolutely; I believe in superpowers with 100% certainty.

Although real-life superpowers don’t consist of 3 minute upward flying kicks, they share some similarities to the superpowers we all admire in science fiction—they defy what seems impossible. The fortunate few who exude such powers are admired and idolized by many. Their range of influence extends throughout the globe; we read about them in the news, we hear about them on the radio, we watch them on TV, and we even see them in real life!

So, who are they?

Modern superheroes are the “self-made” men and women of society, they are the non-conformists: leaders, entrepreneurs, scholars—people who stand for what they believe in. They are in constant motion and they direct their future with the same skill a world-class captain of a vessel would. They excel in hardships and shine in any condition, no matter how out of their control those conditions may be. Looking at their status may be intimidating to some and it can easily be deduced that these people are simply “born that way.” But is this necessarily the case? What if we entertain the converse—that superpowers are cultivated through time—and suppose that there is an underlying perceptual framework shared amongst these heroes. Can we draw the conclusion that anyone who adapts this framework can achieve superpower-dom? Intuitively, the answer would be yes; however, the question becomes: what is this framework? And how can it be adapted?

The answer lies in a little something called personal development.

In our own unique way, we all possess superpowers. For some, they lie dormant awaiting to be woken up, for others, they are effortlessly expressed. In the same way that a superhero must train to maximize his/her powers, we too must train to  maximize, and sometimes discover, our powers. It doesn’t mean we should start bench pressing 2 tons or attempting to run at the speed of light instead, we need to train ourselves through personal development.

The image of personal development has been tainted over the years. When the term “personal development” comes to mind, the common image is that of a stranger telling you what to do, giving you generalized—sometimes impractical/inapplicable—instructions on how to achieve success and happiness in life. Obviously there is no “one size fits all” and for this reason alone, many people have been deterred to muster up even a tad bit of interest in the field.

Despite the current image of personal development, there are still invaluable bits of information that can be used to achieve a superhero life. Personal development encourages self-knowledge, reflection, and awareness which can contribute as measures for quantifying how far one is from the direction they want to go towards. Are you almost there? Or are you light-years away from your goal? Simple questions such as these can significantly bring a person closer towards achieving their goals. Although step-by-step details of how to get there may not be available, being aware of where you are can at least tell you if you’re moving away or towards that destination.

More importantly, personal development allows us to realize the truth—that we CAN be a superheroes! Despite our false limiting beliefs, such as the idea that we’re not (fill in the blank) enough, we all have the capability of achieving our dreams. Once we rid our minds with all the bullshit, we can start actualizing our dreams in life with unfaltering force.

So even though Halloween was a week ago, rock that cape/mask/outfit/wand year-long and yell at the top of your lungs: “I’M A FRIKIN’ SUPERHERO!!! You deserve it.

Breaking the 3 Walls of our Comfort Zone

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been associated with being the shy, quiet, smart and conservative person. Someone who almost always kept to himself, wasn’t too loud and didn’t cause much of a ruckus anywhere. I wasn’t the daredevil in the room, and I  wasn’t the one telling countless stories about some sort of crazy adventure that happened in my life. Not to say that I didn’t like to talk, I actually wished I could talk more. I really just don’t know what to say most of the time.

Throughout most of my life, I accepted this. I accepted that I was the way I was, and pretty much nothing was going to change me. I was comfortable, and felt safe just going through the typical motions of life. I had big dreams, but somehow I felt that I could just work hard, and eventually everything would eventually come rolling my way. That somehow, my future and the life I desired would automatically fall into place.I was clearly wrong!Considering the way I was, believe it or not, my big dream is to be an entrepreneur! Why be an entrepreneur? Well simply because entrepreneurs change the world! They have the innate ability to create a great change in their lives and within the lives of others, whether it be providing a job, providing a service, or making life just simply easier for everyone. That is my big dream and I think about how I’ll be able to achieve it every day. Whether it be determining solutions to a problem a friend of mine has, to brainstorming global problems that the world faces every day, I really enjoy thinking about how to improve things…simply because I feel that I can make a difference.But an entrepreneur you say? Entrepreneurs are supposed to be the opposite of quiet, shy and conservative. Entrepreneurs’ voices must not only be heard, but remembered. Entrepreneurs’ actions inspire some and motivate others. Entrepreneurs are leaders, decision makers and constantly take risks. They don’t sit around and let things happen to them, and they most certainly don’t accept things to just stay the way they are. They are the leaders of today and the pioneers of yesterday.

In many ways, the description of an entrepreneur is much different than what I’ve been considered to be, and how I’ve acted. I would say that, for most of my life, I’ve been the complete opposite, never taking risks, never doing the uncomfortable, and never stepping out of my boundaries. I let the comfort zone define me and who I was.

What I’ve learned for a while now is that I have the ability to overcome those boundaries. We all do! Although it has been part of me for most of my life, I don’t have to continue walking the same path forever. I can choose any path I’d like. The only thing that is stopping me, is… well me!

So, I chose to start moving forward. I needed to start improving my faults and determine ways to overcome the different walls I’ve stayed away from all these years. The walls which constantly kept me from growing into the person I aspire to be, and living the life I know I’m capable of living, no matter how difficult the road. I’ve found three of them to be the following:

Perception of Impossible

“You must always do the thing you think you cannot do”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Before attempting anything in life, we usually gauge the possibility of achieving some task or goal. We consider how feasible the act is, and our ability to accomplishing it. For the things we are good at, usually sky is the limit, but for the things we are uncomfortable with, and the things that we think we are completely incapable of doing, we usually avoid it all together. This is the most common trap people fall into. Because we think we cannot do it, we can’t, and frankly, we won’t!


To overcome this mentality, we need to be optimistic. We need to have faith in our abilities and have the resolve to at least try doing what seems impossible. If we don’t, then how can we ever find out what we are truly capable of? If we don’t, then how will we ever seek out that extraordinary dream?

Uncertainty

The unknown is a scary thing. The possibility of the worst thing happening is the first thing that comes to mind when trying to overcome an obstacle, and the possibility of the best case scenario usually comes last. With that in mind, it is no wonder many of us give up before even trying anything in life, because of all the “What if’s” we ask ourselves time and time again. It is ok to be cautious, but it is even more important to be courageous! The interesting thing about uncertainty is that we can actually shape it into whatever we want and deal with it in many ways. Imagine life as an adventure, the countless possibilities, or the future that lies ahead. Keep this in mind, and uncertainty can be shaped into a strong motivator!

Fear of Failure

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
-Thomas Edison

Probably the most discouraging wall is the fear of failure. Failing is never a good feeling, and in every situation we try to avoid failure at any cost. Even if we took an attempt at something, if we failed, usually right after, we give up and stop trying simply because we weren’t successful the first or second time.

I could say for a fact, that my greatest failures, have proven to be the best teachers, and the loudest motivators in my life. Instead of letting failure tell me how wrong I was, we need to use failure as a tool for learning how not to make the same mistake again, or how to improve from it. Instead of letting failure get the best of us, we need use it to make the best us!

These are some pretty difficult walls I’ve got to say, but thinking about your goal and passions should give you the motivation to overcome the obstacles the comfort zone presents. I understood what it would take to be the type of person I want to be and had strong desire to become just that. The comfort zone I was so used to and all the uncertainty and fear of failure that came with it, would no longer be an excuse. I visualized what it would be like to be at point Z, and started planning out all the steps it would take to get there.

Everyone has their own type of obstacles that they must face, some more difficult than others, but that shouldn’t matter. The comfort zone is a place we can’t let ourselves get stuck in, especially if it is keeping us from achieving our dreams and life goals. The perception of impossible, uncertainty and the fear of failure are difficult walls that will continually keep us from growing, but we can’t let it. If someone were to ask me what some of my life defining moments were, I would say that they all occurred when I took some sort of risk, when I felt uncomfortable, but did it anyway! Our lives can change if we break out of our comfort zone and decide to just go for it!


So start moving already! What will you do to break out of your comfort zone?

Achieving Success in the Real World—It’s Not What You Expect.

It was finals week of my last semester as an undergraduate. Many things were running through my head at that time; in particular, I was concerned with polishing up projects and making sure I was well-prepared for the coming exams and presentations. I remember spending 5 days straight with an average of 3 hours of sleep per day on my senior design project just so that it was “perfect” (it never actually got to that point, but I still tried).

 

If you knew me back in elementary school, or even highschool, I was the complete opposite—for me, success in school meant doing as little work as possible. Not only was I lazy, but I was also a big troublemaker (I remember bringing a pet spider to school and when I got caught, I said it was for my project. Yeah, I know, pretty bad-ass). Despite this, I always thought to myself: “I’m going to slack off now, but in college I’ll do my best—that’s how I’ll succeed.” Fast forward into the future, once I got into college I stayed true to that promise (thank God) and I became completely obsessed with trying to succeed. To me, the most apparent way of doing so was through academic excellence. I thought that by getting A’s, by participating in class, and by doing things that a “good student” should do, I would eventually succeed in life. If I just follow the curriculum and do my best, I would achieve my childhood dreams and be successful. I had it all figured out.

The structure that college provides is very comfortable. You go to class, you do your homework, and you pass the final exam. Repeat this cycle for 4-5 years, and you’re ready to face the “real world.” Once you graduate, you have the right tools to achieve whatever it is you want in life. However, the steps to do so are not entirely obvious. If you’re like me and got spoiled by school (or by the “system”), where should you start? Growing up as kids, most of us were constantly bombarded by images of what defines success. To be successful, you need to drive a nice car, make a lot of money, be popular, and have a happy family; all at the same time. The better you are or the more you have than the majority, the more successful you appear. In this sense, success is measured through a state of external affluence. Through this association, we strive for these possessions because we believe that ultimately these things will make us happy and feel like we’re “living life.”

But, should this be the measuring stick within which we define success?

When I graduated college and finally achieved what I was aiming for, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting this ecstatic feeling brought by what I thought was success. Instead, I didn’t feel any different than when I was a student, only this time, I had a diploma. All along, I was aiming for the status of a straight-A student because I thought that being one would mean that I achieved success. But once I finally got there, it didn’t feel that way at all. Even looking back at it today, I cannot say that I was successful in college because I fit that image of what a “good” student is supposed to be.

What I did value, however, was the person I became by aiming for that goal. I started practicing values such as hard-work, discipline, and dedication to my daily routines. I became passionate about learning and I was actively seeking answers to my various curiosities in life. I also realized that if I wanted to do/change something, I can’t put it back for later—I have to start now. These were all virtually nonexistent in me before college; however, they were all traits of the person I wanted to be. Actualizing those values were more important than what those values brought to me—a piece of paper.

It then hit me.

I had placed sole value on achievement while overlooking the process and foundations of achieving. Success, I pondered, is not simply attaining the end-goal, but it is also about who you become during the process. In this sense, it is a state of being, not simply being at a state. It is internal affluence that defines success, not it’s counterpart.

I started questioning my goals and the assumptions I had made of what I thought was success. Do I need a dream car? Do I need a lot of money? Do I need to live in a mansion? These were things I realized didn’t matter as much as I had previously considered. The superficial clouded the way I perceived success and my vanity was certainly getting ahead of me.

Rather than continuing on with this mindset, I identified the values and principles of who I wanted to be and tailored my goals around them. To me, having integrity and living each day with virtue matters more than any material possession.

If you had also fallen prey into interpreting success as an end-goal, I urge you, break free from it and define what really matters to you. Forget about the images associated to success and the notion that you need luck to be successful. Although it is natural to measure success this way, aiming to fit those images may not necessarily be consistent with what you truly want. Maybe all the money, fame, women/men, cars, etc. don’t really matter to you as much as you think. Do you value experiencing new things? Exploring the earth? Trying different food? Spending time with your friends/family/girlfriend/boyfriend? Identify what’s important to you and align your goals accordingly.

Consider all aspects in your life and define success in your own terms. Stop comparing yourself with others, and run your own race! Answer the question “Who do I want to be?” not, “What do I want to be?”, and work towards becoming that person. Because in the “real world”, no one else will be the judge of personal success but you.

So tell me, what does success mean to you?