Become Your Own Hero

Hercules, Hercules!

At 8 years old, I could have watched Disney’s Hercules all day long.

His large muscles, his ability to take on any challenge, and his way with the ladies…

I wanted to be just like him.

We all had our favorite Heros as children. They took on challenges with the greatest of ease, overcame their weaknesses, and always defeated the bad guy. We could only dream of living the extraordinary life of a hero.

So what happened? Why didn’t we become the hero that we looked up to for all those years?

For most of us, it all begins with the fact that we don’t have any super human powers, but what if I told you that isn’t true.

Sure, we might not be shooting laser beams out of our eyes any time soon, but there are so many other ways we can be a Hero in the world we live in today.

10 tips to Becoming a Hero Today

1)   When people look back on your life will they remember resilience and success, or defeat and sadness?

We all need to understand our own potential.  When a bad day comes, remember  to put in effort in order to make your life better. Work towards self improvement and make sure you continue to give it 100%. Heroes don’t give up, and neither should you.

2)   Who is your chronic illness hero?

This may take some research, but no matter what illness you have there is someone out there who has overcome. It may not be easy, but you need to find your real life Hero. Find someone who has overcome, and found success. Once you find this person, it is time to learn from their success and to reach out to them for support.

3)   How would you act if you were not afraid?

Heroes are not afraid, and neither should you be. Fear is the emotion that troubles chronic illness fighters more than the rest. We don’t know what tomorrow might bring, but in order to be a hero we need to relieve ourselves of worrying about tomorrow, and live today. Take actions to fix your current problems, and never back down.

4)   How can you inspire others to get through their chronic illness?

We all have our struggles, and I believe it is our duty to work together through these struggles. Reach out to other chronic illness fighters. Give them support. We need to make a difference together.

5)   When you were a child, who did you look up to?

Every child looks up to someone for support and guidance. We all had that one person who we would have listened to no matter what the advice. Who was that person? What made them so easy to follow? What qualities can you learn from them? Even as adults we can learn from our childhood real life heroes.

6)   What made the hero great in your favorite book or movie?

Are they strong and always know the right thing to say? Can they overcome any obstacle? How can we start to be more like our Heroes? Think about their strengths and start adding them to your own life.

7)   What’s your super power?

Are you funny? Can you make anyone smile? Are you smart? Are you a problem solver? There too many to list, but we need to pick out what we are good at. Once we know that, we can change the world.

8)   What’s your kryptonite?

Everyone has weaknesses. Be honest about your weaknesses, and make a plan to get better. We can also improve, we just have to start.

9)   Are you being ethical?

I recently read the “The 10X Rule” by Grant Cardone, and being ethical was one of his best tips. Most people think of being ethical in the context of being honest and righteous. Grant brings up a great point that if we are not putting in every ounce of effort in everything we do, than we are not being ethical to ourselves. When we don’t put in 100% effort, we are letting down ourselves and our family. We need to not break our own ethic code.

10)   Who is your alter ego?

The best tip I can give you is to find an alter ego. Take myself for example. My everyday name is David. I am a (somewhat) normal guy, with a (somewhat) normal life. When my multiple sclerosis acts up, however, I become DRGAY (David Raymond GAY), I am the man for the job, and nothing fears me. I am strong, enthusiastic, funny, and can get over any symptom. We all need to find an alter ego for during our bad times. Let your alter ego handle the bad times, and let your normal self handle the good.

Who is your Hero?

Dave