I’m Going to Test You for Superhuman

Last week we talked about the fact there are Superhumans Among Us. They’re the people out there globally elevating personal and professional standards in ways that will continue to rob us of the very time, money, energy and creativity, that we all require to both discover as well as live out our purpose on this planet so that we can lead others to do the same.

I offered up a solution to this, which was to join the ranks of these superhuman performers, but I also acknowledged that most people don’t believe, or probably better said is, forgot that they have the capacity to perform at such levels within them. So, I offered a test for such capacity and I offered to do it in a way that will not only begin to demystify the process of performing at superhuman levels, but will also show some of you where you’ve likely gotten stuck on your personal journey to such levels.

Now I consider this test...

A Matter of Life or Death…

...because if you’ve been seduced into trying to live a life that is too far beyond your situation and self (mentally, physically and / or financially) you could end up spending the rest of your life experiencing constant feelings of both frustration and inadequacy. And if you’ve been trapped into living a life that is too far below your situation and self (mentally, physically and / or financially) your life will reek of dissatisfaction and regret. So whether you’re living in fantasy land or leisure land, the consequences to yourself and those around you are equally as bad because neither leads to an authentic life of purpose and passion.

So to conduct this test I’m going to bring you into what is called…

The Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey is an ancient pattern of narrative that was discovered and written about by an American scholar named Joseph Campbell. Now this pattern has become well known in the story telling world, but It was also a pattern that I immediately recognized in my own personal story. Not only did this pattern wake me up to the fact that I had become stuck in life, but it also revealed what I needed to do to become unstuck and I think it will do the same for you.

You see. The reason this pattern is so widely used in storytelling and creating movies like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix and so many others, is because us humans can deeply relate to it. We deeply relate to it because it mirrors the real lives of those of us who are trying to do something or go somewhere beyond our current self and situation.

Now the details of each journey might be a little different, but the fundamental phases, characters and sequences of challenges, triumphs and failures are universally shared by everyone with ambition.

Now one of the things that is always the same in every story is that they all have and start with a hero, and it is for that reason that we must start this test by first...

Redefining & Self Identifying As a Hero

And this is important because if you don’t self-identify as a hero, which is someone who causes things to happen, we have no other choice but to self-identify as a victim, which is someone who has things happen to them. And as you know. Or perhaps are about to find out. Good lives never just happen. They are always caused.

So traditionally we define a hero as someone who has gone out and risked everything to achieve great deeds on the behalf of others. And it is right here, at the very beginning, that most of us get disqualified.

Seriously... how many of us are “achieving great deeds on the behalf of others”? I mean sure. We want to achieve great things for ourselves, our egos, our pride, or at best to fulfill an obligation to avoid some sort of guilt; but to go out and risk everything to achieve something great so that we can give it over to others? Now that’s a big step, but that’s where the first test and breakthrough is, and I don’t mean transforming from selfish to selfless, we’ve still got a bunch of dying to self and resurrecting to do before we can even talk about that one. The breakthrough I’m referring to is…

The Stepping

You see. I eventually realized that a hero is NOT someone who HAS risked everything to achieve a great deed on the behalf of others, but is someone who is simply and intentionally STEPPING through a journey that can lead to such greatness. I realized that all I needed to do to become the hero in my own life was to simply commit to the next step no matter how small.

I experienced the same thing in SEAL training. I made it through because I believed that I was already a SEAL, and every step I took both confirmed that reality as well as produced it. I can remember looking down at my boots as I’d run and say to myself, those are my feet. Those are the feet of a SEAL running. You see. It was the belief that I was already a SEAL that gave me what I needed to become one.

And I know this sounds overly simplistic and even kind of child-like, because a single step is such a small commitment to make and easy action to take. But don’t all journeys and dreams start with a single and simple step? And here’s what will keep you up at night. Don’t we quit all journeys and dreams by simply not taking the next simple and small step?

So here’s your first test.

Can you believe your own promise to keep stepping?

And if you have at least that much faith in yourself, can you accept that it is that very small step that makes you the hero in your own life?

And can you accept that as "The Hero" in your own life, you are now the cause of it? The author of all things to come?

And are you at least open to the idea of giving all that you've learned and created to others?

If the answer was yes then...

Welcome to the fringe!

Eric