Beating Performance Anxiety: Self-Distancing and Alter-Egos

From a high-performance perspective, alter-egos are proven to increase confidence (and performance) for writers, musicians, athletes, business owners, actors, and students. Why? This week we explored some studies behind "self-distancing" and put some thought into constructing our own "alter-egos" for various situations. 

Study to illustrate the power of alter-egos:

“A recent University of Minnesota of Minnesota study of four and six year old children found that to teach kids perseverance, parents should teach children to pretend to be like Batman or another favorite character because it creates psychological distance… The study split kids into three groups. The researchers put a toy in a locked glass box and gave the kids a ring of keys. The catch? No key worked. The researchers wanted to see how to improve the children’s executive functioning skills and were interested in seeing how long they would try to unlock the box and what they would try. To help the kids, researchers gave them what they called strategies. One strategy was to pretend to be Batman. The kids could even wear a cape. Dora the Explorer was a choice, too. Researchers found that the kids who worked the longest were the ones who impersonated Batman or Dora, followed by children who just pretended, and finally the kids who remained in the first-person perspective. The kids impersonating Batman or Dora were more flexible thinkers, they tried the most keys, and they were calmer. One four year old even said, “Batman never gets frustrated.” The study shows us the power of identity - the power of how we see ourselves, and what happens when we, for a moment in time, can call forth a different self.” - "The Alter Ego Effect" by Todd Herman, pg. 33

Self-distancing defined: The ability to critically reflect on oneself and one's relations from an external perspective.

Self-distancing occurs when an individual views their experience as an observer.

New research confirms that self-distancing – talking to yourself in the third person – can reduce anxiety and stress.

“I can do this!” (first person) Vs. “You can do this!” (second person) Vs. “Michelle can do this!” (third person)

Common Things That Hold Us Back That an Alter-Ego/Self-Distancing Can Help With:

-Lacking self-awareness and/or self-confidence (doubting oneself or others)
-Losing emotional control
-Inaccurate risk assessment (too much or too little)
-Worrying about being a beginner (or not the best right away)
-Worrying what others think
-Imposter syndrome
-Unhelpful personal narratives

-Not acting intentionally
Build an "Alter Ego" Exercise:

-Start with the superpowers/values/traits you want (choose 3 - list them).
-Do you have an example of someone you already know who inhabits these traits? 

-How do they act/speak/think?
-Choose someone or something you admire (animal/person/force of nature). Is there a story you are drawn to? Movie? Book? Comic?
-Imagine yourself in a lab creating your alter ego. What are you adding? What are you taking away?
-Name your alter-ego (are they a combination of several people/things or are they one thing)?
-Is there an animal that you resonate with? Study it. Watch some documentaries on it.
-Choose an artifact/totem/symbol to activate your alter-ego (glasses, necklace, tic-tac placebo) on its field of play (stage, field, classroom). This can be something you wear, something you carry, or a certain location. It helps if it embodies your alter ego’s superpowers and mission. It’s the bridge between your imagination and the physical world. 
-What would your alter-ego admit it wants or expects to hear, see, touch, taste, smell, or experience in the future?

GO DEEPER: 

“White Coat” Study from the Kellogg School of Management: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html

Michael Crichton's use of pseudonyms:
https://calnewport.com/on-michael-crichtons-busy-ambition/

Books: 
“Chatter” by Ethan Cross
“The Alter-Ego Effect” by Todd Herman

The Logic of Historical People Who Changed Their Names (from an article I wrote awhile back):

George Eliot – Mary Ann Evans was a Victorian lady wanting little to do with the traditional gender expectations of her time. She also wanted nothing to do with the cheesy romance novels expected of many women writers in her day. Therefore, she took her partner’s first name (flattering) and decided Eliot was a “good mouth-filling” easily pronounceable word. 

Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Brontë first wrote under the names Ellis, Currer, and Acton Bell. They were published while pretending to be men in 1846. By 1848 they tore up the lie and were celebrated for what they were – brilliant women.

Silence Dogood – Benjamin Franklin’s writing pitches were ignored several times by his brother (who happened to be the founder and publisher of the New-England Courant). In one of several acts of genius, he shed his 16-year-old boy persona and took on the alter-ego of a middle-aged woman. Take that brother!

Madam CJ Walker – Sarah Breedlove, born to former slaves and orphaned at the age of seven, went on to become the first black woman millionaire in America. She sold hair care products tailored to African American women after suffering from a scalp condition. Her husband helped her with advertising the products. He suggested the name change when she started her company. 

Mark Twain – Samuel Langhorne Clemens heard “mark twain” shouted several times before he claimed the pen name. This is because “mark twain” meant “two fathoms” – how deep it needed to be for a riverboat to safely travel at the time. His first pseudonym was “Josh.”

Dear Abby – Pauline Phillips used the name Abigail Van Buren as a combination of the Biblical name “Abigail” and the U.S. President “Martin Van Buren.”  Pauline once had the nick-name Popo. I think we can all agree that “Dear Popo” wouldn’t have had quite the same ring to it.

Dr. Seuss – Theodor Seuss Geisel’s dad wanted him to be a doctor. Instead, he got The Cat in the Hat. His dad may have been disappointed, but children across the world have been delighted ever since. (Besides, Theodor did obtain an honorary doctorate… eventually.)

Publius – Publius is what you get when Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay mix their wild heads together in the 1780s. They used this three-person pseudonym while writing The Federalist Papers. The name was created in homage to the Roman Republic founder Publius Valerius Poplicola, who helped overthrow the old-school monarchy.

O. Henry – William Sydney Porter was put in prison for embezzlement. He told fantastic stories while in the slammer and was encouraged by other inmates to write his stories down in a more official way. Before being published, however, he browsed through the obituaries in order to put together a very simple name. Because his stories became so well-loved, his three years in prison were forgiven.

Lewis Carroll – Charles Lutwidge Dodgson gave his publisher several names to choose from when he started taking writing seriously. He started using his now-famous pen name in 1856, after playing around with whether “Lewis” or “Carroll” should be the first name. He valued privacy and humility so much, he would even refuse to open letters addressed to “Carroll” if they arrived at his Oxford office. 

Quarles, Barry Littleton, Edward Gray – Edgar Poe had many names. He added Allan when he was taken in by John and Frances Allan (who never went on to officially adopt him). When he enlisted in the army, he was “Edgar A. Perry”. “A Bostonian” was the byline in his first book. When he wrote scathing reviews, he became known as “The Tomahawk man” in literary circles. 

Mel Brooks – Melvin James Kaminsky was afraid his name sounded like the trumpet player Max Kaminsky. Melvin was also a musician at the time (playing drums) so he took part of his mother’s maiden name (Brooman) and became Mel Brooks.

Dean Martin – When Dino Paul Crocetti first started working in show business, he went by Dino Martini. Then, fearing confusion with a popular singer named Nino Martini, he changed his name a second time. (He was mostly known as “The King of Cool” in my husband’s house.)

Richard Bachman – Stephen King was thought to be in hypothetical danger of oversaturating his own market (isn’t that simply known as being prolific?), so he decided to do one book a year at the beginning of his career as Stephen and any other books as this guy. (One book a year per author was a common golden rule for publishers at this time.) One of “Richard’s” books sold ten times as many copies once everyone knew it was Stephen King.

70 random pen names – Lawrence Kerfman Duby Jr., mostly known as Lauran Paine, wrote about everything from witchcraft to romance to military history. With such a variety of interests and wacky genres to tackle (from science fiction to mystery) and over 1,000 books to his persona, his publishers couldn’t handle the output… so he turned himself into 70+ people.