Create an Alter Ego and Be More Confident: The Batman Effect
Public speaking is one of the most widely held fears in the world.
Something about standing up in front of a group of people and talking is so uncomfortable and nerve-wracking.
I myself to this day get very nervous talking for any length of time talking to any more than a few people at a time. Even when I know the people I am talking to?
This is a problem for me as a consultant where I regularly have to lead meetings, deliver results to clients through workshops and presentations, and many other areas.
I have a few tools that I use to help me get through it, such as preparing well for the meeting, and asking questions of my audience. However, I still always find that the longer I talk for, the more nervous I become.
So when I read that English singer-songwriter and global star Adele often feels the same way when she has to do a performance, it makes me feel a little better.
What I found even more interesting though, was method she employs to help herself get over her nerves.
When Adele takes to the stage, she imagines herself as another person altogether. She takes to the stage as her confident, strong, charismatic alter ego: Sasha Carter.
Adele is not the only performer that has done this. She herself was inspired by Beyoncé, who's alter ego she called Sasha Fierce (and who's name inspired Adele's own alter ego).
David Bowie had Ziggy Stardust, Eminem had Slim Shady, Prince had Camille, and many more examples exist.
They all adopt alter egos for their own reasons, but the one thing that they seem to have in common is that they alter egos seemed to embody traits or characteristics that they wanted to embody or convey: confidence, aloofness, self-assuredness, aggression, zealousness.
By adopting alter egos, these performers all seemed to have been able to effectively embody these characteristics in a way that their usual selves could not.
But why does this work?
Why should pretending to be someone else be able to change how we feel to such a degree?
Self-Distancing
According to a paper titled "Self-Distancing: Theory, Research, and Current Directions", written by E. Kross and O. Ayduk and published in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, there is a very good reason why this works.
In psychology, there are studies that suggest that reflecting on one's emotions and feelings is important for understanding, adapting, and dealing with them in a positive manner.
However, there are also many studies that show that reflecting on negative emotions can be a harmful experience, leading to rumination and prolonged negative cycles of emotion.
Kross and Ayduk reasoned that this was to do with how people viewed their emotions at the time of reflection.
When psychologically immersed in their feelings (i.e., feeling very attached to them), this was much more likely to lead to negative effects, since they find it more difficult to think about them objectively and are more likely to get caught up in those negative emotions.
However, when able to take a mental step back from the negative emotions and therefore think about them more objectively, people are able to process their thoughts and feelings in a more productive manner.
The practice of taking this mental step back from your emotions is known as self-distancing.
The benefits of self-distancing has been discussed at length in the realms of psychology, philosophy and mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation.
It can help to regulate emotions such as fear, aggression, anxiety and so on.
Creating an alter ego is an extreme form of self-distancing whereby you distance yourself from the feelings of emotion that you want to avoid.
In Adele's case it may be nervousness, timidity and anxiety.
My Own Alter Ego
I myself am going to be experimenting with the creation of an alter ego. To begin with I will be applying it to one of my more competitive hobbies: League of Legends.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the game, it is a competitive 5v5 online game that is known for being particularly brutal and unforgiving.
I will call the persona Jaster (a sort of portmanteau of my first and last name).
I want to use it to help me to shake off certain qualities when I play, such as:
- Aggression
- Impatience
- Intolerance
- Ego
Conversely, some of the characteristics that Jaster has are:
- Calmness
- Patience
- Tolerance
- Tenacity
- Unwavering
- Efficient
Before starting a gaming session, I will take a moment to get into the headspace of 'Jaster', and really picture what it feels like to be someone with these qualities. Imagine what it would be like to play with all of these things being true of me.
Combining this with a mantra that I will chant before each session and I will be in a good spot to bring about the changes I want to see. For this, I may draw upon a mantra from one of my favourite fictional characters, Grimalkin, from Spook's: I am Grimalkin:
"Each day say to yourself that you are the best, the strongest, and the most deadly. Eventually you will start to believe it. Finally it will come true. It came true for me."
Reading about this phenomena has led me down a bit of a rabbit hole of psychology reading and honestly it's been incredibly interesting.
I encourage you to follow you interests to read and research things that strike you as interesting or curious. It may lead you to places you never thought.
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Thanks for reading friends, 'til next time.
Jack