How to Become a Superhero: The Conscious Success Workshop (& A Crude Drawing)


Have you ever considered the possibility that you could be a superhero and just haven’t realized it yet?

I had to confront this possibility when I attended Steve Pavlina’s Conscious Success Workshop in January, and I came away with a surprising shift in my perspective.

At the workshop, we did plenty of eye-opening exercises, but one stood out in particular: The Ultimate Self Exercise.

In the exercise, we were to imagine the best version of ourselves, our superhero selves. Steve even gave us crayons of various colors so that we could draw what our superhero would look like, and on the back of our drawing we were to write down our superhero’s powers and virtues. Once we finished, we were to go around the room and introduce ourselves as if we were our superhero, tell the other person about our powers, learn about their abilities, and then give them a high five.

The Birth of The Trailblazer

Needless to say, I was really excited. But I was also pretty nervous since I had no idea what my superhero would be.

I stared at a blank piece of paper and waited for something to come to mind. Well, my superhero would undoubtedly be a Master of Travel. He’d be completely fearless, completely adaptable, and would effortlessly inspire people around the world. He’d also be able to fly (but he wouldn’t have a cape because capes get caught in jet turbines and are generally a bad idea because of this).

The Trailblazer superhero drawingI began drawing this idealized version of myself, and soon The Trailblazer was born.

Even if the drawing to the right may have the artistic skill of a 4th grader, I think it gets the point across. It’s me, blonde hair and all, encompassing the world, carrying stories to inspire others along the way. (Later I felt better when I discovered that most other’s drawings were stick figures, as well.)

And I instantly loved the name The Trailblazer. It felt right.

Meeting some Great Supers

After about 5 minutes, Steve announced that time was up. Now was the moment of truth: it was time to share our superheroes with each other. I quickly wrote down my superhero powers and virtues. (This was actually easier than the drawing part. And although I only put 3, you can put as many as you want.)

Superpowers:

  1. Courageously explore the mysteries of Earth, as well as any person who opens up to me
  2. By sharing this, Inspire people to embrace more freedom in their own lives
  3. Live/Adapt to anywhere. And can fly. (No capes.)

So naturally, my virtues were freedom, exploration, and wisdom; and I was excited to share The Trailblazer with the 50-60 other people in the room. In the process of sharing, I met many awesome superheroes that afternoon. Superheroes that had big hearts. Superheroes that were very creative and made beautiful works. And even some bizarre superheroes that had powers I can’t even remember. Best of all, almost all of them had the ability to give super hugs.

What are Superheroes, really?

Conscious Success Workshop 1 Group Photo - Day 3

The Superheroes of CSW

I’m glad Steve put this exercise at the end of Day 1 of the workshop because it helped build more group trust and cohesion—not to mention giving me a new perspective on myself and what I can become. It was then that I realized that superheroes truly do exist, that this exercise had opened up a new way of thinking about my personal growth over time. I realized that I am indeed a superhero in the making.

You can be, too. After all, people do amazing things all of the time. Some pluck people out of the fire or the sea. And some share ideas that powerfully affect the world. People save each other in various ways around the world every day. Superheroes exist, but we often don’t consider them superheroes.

At the end of Day 1, I took some time to sit alone and reflect on the drawing I’d created. If I continue down the path I’m on, how “super” could I become? How much more could I contribute and in what better ways? When I think about it, there are even some travel writers that I’d consider superheroes. Gary Arndt comes to mind. He’s been on the road for years exploring exotic places, adapting to different languages, arranging lodging and transportation, and still manages to write what seems like 97 articles per month.

Superheroes are people who seriously have it together, know what they want to create on a deep level, and continuously improve at their craft — the same path I’m committed to. I know it takes years to become a well-rounded superhero, but I also know that I’ll get there because of how much I love what I do. All it takes is continuing down the path, and when I see how far I’ve come in the last few years, the progress that I see is really encouraging. My progress reminds me that Mastery is measured in hours and eventually comes as long as you stay on the path.

What about you? What does your ideal self look like? What’s your superhero name? What powers and virtues would the best version of you have? Try the exercise for yourself. I think you’ll find it enlightening. And then take some time every day to move a little bit closer to that person. One tiny step a day multiplied by years turns into one giant leap. And after all, the time is going to pass, anyway; so why not focus on getting closer and closer to that person?

What’s the name of the superhero hiding inside of you?
C’mon, show us what you’ve got!



How I used Intention-Manifestation to stop an Identity Theft (& had fun doing it)


On Sunday afternoon, I went on a rescue mission.

It’s not often that my explorations have such a narrowly defined end-goal. Usually, they’re more open-ended in nature. But this time, someone’s identity was at stake; so I ventured out into the brisk December air, focused on accomplishing my goal.

The nature of the mission was simple: retrieve a lost social security card that had gone mysteriously missing. It must be kept from falling into the wrong hands. And in the process of searching, I instinctively used the intention-manifestation model of reality (also known as the Law of Attraction) to help me find it, soon realizing that sometimes finding what you really want is more effortless than finding what you don’t.

The card belonged to my brother, who lives nearby; and he had been very concerned since it had gone missing. I can’t say I blame him. After all, identity theft is a serious concern. And even though electronic identity theft gets a lot of attention these days, the majority of theft still occurs through paper means.

Clearly, retrieving this social security card was paramount. (The last thing anyone needs is someone pretending to be them.) And since I had some extra time on Sunday, I decided to wander around the place where he thought he’d lost it. What I didn’t realize until later was that I had instinctively used the intention-manifestation mindset… with unexpected results.

How to use Intention-Manifestation

I’ve already written about how I used the intention-manifestation model to get paid to travel 1,000 miles, but I’m going to restate it here in case you haven’t read that article yet.

Here’s how it works:

  • I made the decision
  • From that decision, I stated what I wanted to happen: “I will find the SSN card.”
  • I had faith that this would be resolved. I let the universe “Make It So.”
  • I let the intention go. I didn’t cling to it. (This is very important for it to work.)

The best theory was that the card had been placed, along with some other documents, atop a car and then forgotten about. Thankfully, he already had a good idea of where he might have lost it, so I began doing a wide sweep of that area. It had rained recently, but everything had since dried, leaving everything a bit cleaner than usual.

I walked for some time, shuffling through small piles of leaves along the road with my foot. On my way around the block, I came across a small piece of paper in the middle of the road. It was the right size, but was it his card?

No. It was a tiny promotion for some new pop album, and I continued my search. Along the way, I came across other fragments of paper, but they were always receipts or bits of wrapper.

A Clue that Followed Clarity

Nearly back at where I’d started, I finally saw something interesting. With a slightly different vantage point, I now saw a fragment of something white covered in leaves on the edge of the street. I ran over and brushed the leaves aside. It was my brother’s latest bank statement!

“Look gang, a clue!”

He must have had his SSN card folded up inside of it, but it wasn’t in there now. I knew I was close. I could smell victory. I began walking along the edge of the street for a moment, but for some reason stepped up and began walking down the sidewalk. And then, I was stunned by what I saw.

Lying atop green grass, in perfect plain sight, was the social security card.

My eyes widened as I crouched down and picked it up. I had actually found it. With a combination of persistence, faith, and clarity, I had manifested what I was looking for; and when I returned it to him, my brother was quite relieved to have it back. (In case you’re not familiar with social security numbers, I should explain that if I hadn’t found the card, it’s possible that someone could have taken is social security number off of the card and damaged his credit, or worse.)

Make It So!

Only later did I realize that I had used the intention-manifestation model to accomplish my mission. Nowadays it’s become a habit of mine to state what I want verbally and then release the intention with faith. Often, this produces some surprising results. The key is to remember that if you doubt it in your mind, then you’ll find doubt all around you. But by being very clear about what I wanted, releasing the intention with faith, and putting in focused effort toward my goal, I manifested the outcome I wanted with much less effort than I would have ever guessed. In fact, using intention-manifestation can be a blast if you maintain a playful attitude. 🙂

Have you ever used the intention-manifestation model? Remember that when you do, it’s key to release your desire with faith. There can be no clinging to a specific outcome. When you release it with faith, you have faith that it will manifest in the most natural way possible.

What about you? What’s your goal? Say it out loud right now, and then tell the universe, “Make it so.” Strange coincidences and synchronicities will arrive, and when they do, follow them.

They may even seem strange, but by following them, you allow your goal to manifest.