I’m already Batman

In 2016, Dr. Stephanie Carlson of the University of Minnesota put together a fascinating study.

The study worked like this:

You put a toy in a box. You give 4-year-old children a set of keys to open the box and retrieve the toy. None of the keys actually work.

You then tell those children to pretend they’re Batman or Dora the Explorer. Those that embodied the spirits of Batman or Dora persevered longer, tried more creative ways of opening the box, and stayed calmer even despite their persistent failures.

Now imagine if we pretended like we were Batman or Dora with every situation we encountered.

Looking at our problems from an arm’s length away and giving ourselves that distance will only help us shift our mindsets and come up with better approaches to solving the complex issues plaguing our lives.

If we then take it one step further and think about – “What would Batman do?” or maybe – “what would my therapist, trusted friend, or mentor say about this?” that can often be powerful enough to persevere longer in the face of adversity.

But let’s now take this even further. Friends from grade-school reading this will know that growing up, I was a fainter. My mom was a fainter. My grandpa was a fainter. I come from a family of fainters. Famously, I once made my sister hysterically cry of laughter by telling her “I didn’t faint! I requested to lie down!”

Although fainting was never fun (I always likened it to being hit by a train), the worst part was never the actual act of fainting. It was the anxiety around it happening again.

From fourth grade all the way to twelfth, I had several anxiety attacks any time teachers would talk about health-related subjects. After the second time in the sixth grade, I started to come up with several strategies for how to stop myself from fainting. Or, better, how stop the anxiety.

One of those ways involved completely disembodying myself from the situation. To remain in the seat listening to the lecture, but to pretend that I was a world famous soccer player scoring all the goals, probably getting all the girls. Essentially, I channeled my self-worth, believed I was something special, and completely forgot about all of my worries. Through this strategy among many others, I haven’t fainted since. Any time I have an anxiety attack, I just breathe, remember why I’m so amazing, and I snap out of it pretty fast.

This might sound like impossible advice to follow, and I know it’s not that simple. But here’s what I want to say.

What if we didn’t have to channel Batman’s energy. What if we believed from the start that our own energy was just as incredible. What if we had the confidence in ourselves to know the value we bring intrinsically. What if Beyoncé didn’t need to pretend like she was Sasha Fierce. What if Beyoncé could channel Beyoncé’s energy instead.

I don’t need to believe that I’m anyone else, because I already believe that I am Batman. In other words, I know my self-worth. I know how great I can be in any situation I encounter. I can amplify my personality and become that 2.0 version of myself, but I don’t have to become anyone else.

Instead of just pretending like you are Batman, what if I told you that you’re already Batman. You already have it in you to be just as amazing. I know dozens of people that are literal superheroes. Only a few of them actually believe it to be true. Those are the people that thrive in every social situation, that are liked by anyone and everyone they meet. Those are the people that can confidently speak in front of a group of any size. Those are the people that are the most unafraid to be themselves. They then allow others to feel fully comfortable doing the same.

When we fully embody the idea that we are ALREADY Batman or Dora the Explorer, we’re going to approach strugglesome situations with greater focus and adaptability. We’re going to try more avenues before giving up. We’re going to stay calm in the face adversity. We’re going to speak in front of large groups with swagger and composure. We’re going to stay confident, and accomplish even the toughest of tasks under the most strenuous anxiety.

So let’s not just play pretend. Let’s recognize why we’re so amazing already, and why we already have all the tools in our arsenal to be way better than Batman could ever be.