Are you familiar with this phrase? I have it on a framed greetings card over my desk because it strikes a chord with me for a number of reasons. It inspired this picture of my son who likes to think he can conquer the world, and why not? When you’re a child anything can seem possible. Anything is possible.
When Harry was younger it wasn’t uncommon to find him under the bedcovers in various superhero costumes, including the face masks. Sweating furiously and looking like a cooked chicken! In his mind, he wasn’t pretending to be Spider-Man. He was his superhero.
As we get older though, self-doubt can start to creep in; we become our own harshest critics. Looking good becomes important and fitting in essential, even if we don’t realise it – we begin to conform to what is considered the norm.
Why does this happen when we start out with so much enthusiasm for life and freedom? What I know is that the human brain is wired for survival. We become the sum of our experiences – all the negative stuff we accumulate along the way has a real impact, sometimes catastrophically so. We get hurt by love interests and friends we thought we’d grow old with, our grand plans don’t pan out as we’d hoped, life surprises us, obstacles get in the way. Ultimately, our dreams and fantasies fade as reality bites.
Paradoxically, achieving great success can become an issue in itself: we have the outward trappings, but the itch isn’t scratched, there’s no real fulfilment. Then we look to the next romance or marriage, that next business venture, holiday or car, more ‘stuff’ as we constantly seek external validation.
What if I told you all you needed to start being your own superhero, to really make a difference to others, to inspire all around you and to experience love and connection like never before was right here, waiting for you?
We live in a culture of ‘go out and get’ to prove ourselves. As we grow up, we formulate our own ‘story’ of our life and become trapped in a mindset that looks outwards for validation. Consequently, we get further away from who we really are and those itches get harder to scratch. That feeling of being “awesome” eludes our grasp.
Clients have come to me for all sorts of reasons. The one thing they have in common is they’re all seeking to improve their life in some way, whether that’s making an already successful career more fulfilling, finding the motivation to get back their mojo, overcoming a fear or phobia, dealing with loss or bereavement, or really stepping up to the next level. It all essentially comes back to the same things: they want more power in their lives, freedom to be themselves and peace of mind. They want to be reconnected to what matters to them.
I love working with people, though it can be confronting. What I do is create the space for them to put awesome back in their lives. Sure, it’s not as easy as donning some superhero costume (if only it were!) but I believe we all have the capacity to be awesome. As I hold up the mirror, my clients start to see who they really are. It’s a special moment, a privilege to witness. I love watching as they realise what’s possible and become reconnected to what they’re really about. I witness the superhero rising up again…only this time, it’s for real.
