Rock Your Brand Podcast

Today I have Todd Herman on the show, and I am thrilled he’s here! He wrote a book called “The Alter Ego Affect.” that I really enjoyed reading. In fact, he actually reads the book himself on the audiobook, which I love because it makes it more real. So, if you get a chance, you should definitely listen to it. Now let’s get right to it and learn a few things from Todd. 

Why Your Alter Ego Matters 

  • I started a peak performance training and coaching company back in 1997 right after I got done playing college football. At the time, I was really young. My strength when I played sports was my mental game.
  • I learned all about mindset when I was in high school and learned how to get to a zone state to help with my anger issues.
  • Now I coach athletics and Olympians and help them learn to control their mental state, especially when they’re on the field or getting ready to compete.
  • When I started working with top quality athletes, they would say they had a different identity they would step into when they stepped onto the field. Working in many different sports, I took things I learned from each to help other athletes. I realized alter egos was a theme. It didn't matter who I talked to. There is a process to it.
  • With sports, there is a theme and an end goal. With business, there are so many different ways to go about achieving your goals that it causes friction for entrepreneurs.
  • There are so many hats that you’ll wear, and all those things will create friction because you’re not always good at everything. Being able to shift our identity is a huge fast track to get through the start-up stage.  

How To Get Unstuck

  • There is a difference between people who start a franchise and someone who starts their own, especially between people who start a franchise and start their own business from scratch.
  • People are much likely to succeed if they start a franchise than those who start their own business. Because the entrepreneur is building the product and business at the same time, and it’s not easy to do it all. 
  • A meta-model says when we have a model that we’re working inside or a vision we have. It helps achieve something quicker. 
  • Use someone that you would like to be showing up as to be your model. It’ll help give you fire and drive to move forward and get through difficult things. Create a model within your own mind to help you show up. The power of an alter-ego is taking a preexisting idea and showing up to represent that. It’s not you being fake.
  • There is no you because there are multiple versions of you. We play many roles in life. When you’re an entrepreneur, there are many different versions of you as you grow a business. Ask yourself who you’ve met or connected with that is amazing like that and show up just like they do. 
  • So many people identify their skills as themselves, and that’s just not true. An alter-ego allows you to show up as different types of people for different aspects of your life. 

How To Take Action and Embrace Your Alter-Ego

  • I don’t care about your beliefs; they aren’t your truths. I want you to commit to 30 days. Do the thing you’re struggling with every day. Do it in private, so you can practice and get better at whatever it is. When you do it again and again, you’re going to improve as you go. 
  • The lowest barrier that I can get you to start with will help you get momentum. Momentum creates confidence, and confidence creates certainty. If you’re just starting out, just commit to taking action and practice.
  • Have a model in mind of people that are really good at the thing you’re practicing. It’ll help you play around with different sides of your personality so you can find a grove. 
  • Mental toughness is your ability to be flexible and adaptable, no matter your circumstances. You’ll just need to find a strategy to get there when things don’t go the way you’ve planned. 
  • Expectations can be healthy. Always keep in mind that if there is a bad in something, there is also good. My expectation is to the process, and not the outcome. I expect myself to show up and believe I’ll do my best. They are all things that I can control.

Note From Scott: Nowadays, it’s so easy to compare people, especially on social media. It can be hard to see other people who are successful and wonder how you’ll ever get there. Many people will show up on video or a blog post in fear of judgment or not good enough. What advice do you have someone who might be struggling with this?

Avoid The Path of Least Resistance 

Welcome to the club. It’s a heavy load to worry about what people are going to think about you. The reason you want to do something is that you like it. However, when you start, you’ll realize the difference of great work. Also, what you’ve done is discouraging. This is part of the process. 

  • The difficult parts of the process are there to help separate people who have the true desire to go after it from those who don’t. 
  • The beautiful part about it is if you’re only looking for the easy path in life, you’ll find resistance. The value is in the journey and the valley of difficulty. 
  • Human beings don't care about my story. Don’t worry about what other people think. If your intention is pure and you’re just working to improve, that is all that matters. People who just keep doing, do the reps, and move forward will be hard to beat. The discipline will win the day. You have to keep going even if you don’t see the results right away.
  • Because the brain is 70% visual cortex, it needs a model or framework. Shove all your content through that framework. I want you to learn how to paint by numbers first, so put in the reps so you can break the frame later because you have the skills to do it. 
  • Always focus on one target market and stay focused on it. Don’t get sidetracked. Put a box around it to help keep you focused. 
  • A rule of thumb is to start where you are. The moment you name who your target market is, other people will come. You might think that naming who you work with will eliminate everyone else. Instead, it’ll invite other people who aren’t in your target group. This happens because human beings don’t like being excluded.  
  • Boxes will help you stay focused, so don’t get overwhelmed. You need to learn to paint your boarder and stay within your sandbox. Think about what the number one skill is that it will help make the largest improvements in the outcomes that are important to you. It’ll help keep you on track to achieve something. 
  • It’s important to focus on doing what you love. Yes, you do need to make money, but you’ll get the best results if you look at it about playing and learning and building up your skillset. You’ll learn faster because playfulness is key to help you. 

Final Note From Scott

I wasn’t kidding when I said that Todd is an awesome guy. I consider him a good friend and loved having him on the show. He is someone worth having in your diet of consumption. He will help impact you in the right way, so go grab his book, “The Alter Ego Affect.” Now, take some time to think about what you’ve learned today and how you can apply it to your own life. Thanks for hanging out with us today! 

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“Remember, I'm here for you, I believe in you, and I'm rooting for you! Now it's time for you to take action and go rock your brand”! 

Take-Aways From Today’s Episode 

  1. Why Alter Egos Matter (10:01)
  2. How To Get Unstuck (17:26)
  3. How To Take Action and Embrace Your Alter-Ego (28:57)
  4. Avoid The Path of Least Resistance (35:40)

Quotes:

  • "Momentum creates confidence, and confidence creates certainty". 
  • "I want you to learn how to paint by numbers first to put in the reps so you can break the frame later because you have the skills to do it". 
 
Direct download: RYB849.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT