We all simultaneously yelled “Rock Stars” as we dug through the chest in our garage to create the perfect outfits.  My sister cried out “Madonna” to stake her claim.  One of my best friends shouted “Elvis” in a loud southern accent as if warming up his singing voice. In a high pitched voice I screeched “You wanna be tough, better do what you can so beat it, but you wanna be bad…just beat it…beat it!!!” ¹⁰ and everyone knew I was going to be Michael Jackson…again.  My sister grabbed a blond wig, put on some bright lipstick, and found a fake plastic microphone which seemed to amplify her voice as she belted out Madonna lyrics one song after another.  She had every Madonna dance move perfectly choreographed to each song as if she was live in concert.  My buddy found a black wig, big side burns, and the signature white polyester shirt and pants with a huge collar and enormous bell bottoms to match.  He had mastered the infamous Elvis “lip curl”, was playing the air guitar, and doing his best to sing Madonna lyrics in a southern accent word for word with my sister.  Meanwhile, I was dressed in all black, with a black hat, one white glove, and white tube socks so I could moon walk over the smooth surface of the garage floor. If you know me, you know I have not memorized very many song lyrics, so I let my “king of pop” dance moves do my singing.  For that moment in time, we were not in a garage in Santa Barbara California, my sister was not an eleven year old girl, my friend and I were not nine year old boys.  We were iconic rock stars, on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans.  We not only looked the part from head to toe but truly believed it inside and out.  Our inner rock stars came to life with every word we sang, every dance move we made, and every mannerism we emulated.

When using your alter ego, don’t over complicate things. You played “make believe” as a kid and it was an intuitive process that happened naturally without someone teaching you how to do it.  Hour after hour you fully embodied different characters as you pretended to be a monster, princess, famous actor, rock star, pro athlete, or superhero.  Use the same childlike imagination and creativity to fully immerse yourself in your alter ego.  Truly take on the characteristics, mannerisms, body language, facial expressions, voice, tone, quotations, posture, or strut of your alter ego and those who inspire it.  This takes focus and intentionality, but again, keep it simple. 

In order to act effectively and position yourself to truly embody your alter ego, you need to be very intentional about the characteristics and mannerisms your alter ego will possess. The chapter questions will help you determine the attributes that will be most beneficial for your alter ego. You will work through “How” and “Why” your alter ego will embody specific triple downs, superpowers, and respond to villain tactics by listing applicable characteristics and mannerisms as well as explaining the rationale behind them. Before you answer the questions, be sure to review your inspirations from your triple downs, superpowers, and conquer processes. This is a difficult but fun chapter where the rubber meets the road. I encourage you to put the time and energy into working through the details so you can reap the rewards.

Side Note

“One of my favorite ways to embody my inspirations is to use their quotes or movie lines.  It is super impactful for me and a ton of fun!”  – Todd Tressler, Ripkik Founder

This chapter is a powerful refresher course on how to play make believe.  Once you work through the chapter questions, you will have learned how to effectively utilize the transformational art of acting with your alter ego.  You can then use your imagination to unlock the desired attributes from within yourself so that you can fully embody your alter ego from head to toe, inside and out.  Attaching characteristics and mannerisms to your alter ego will really help bring it to life and make it exponentially more effective.