How to superpower?

You can gain real super powers. No gamma radiation, spider bites, or mutations necessary.

A few simple tips can have you performing heroic deeds in no time — cape not included.

1) Gain super creativity!

Take a hot shower.

Here are more ways to increase creativity.

2) Add powerful new habits!

Use the "20 second rule."

Look at the good habits you want to develop and see if there's a way you can make them easier to begin by 20 seconds.

Want to stop a bad habit? Increase the time it takes to initiate it by 20 seconds.

Put those gym clothes where you can reach them. Put the chocolate on the top shelf and close the cabinet.

Here are more ways to break bad habits and add good ones.

3) Gain unstoppable willpower!

Eat something.

From my interview with willpower researcher Roy Baumeister:

Here are more ways to increase willpower.

4) Instantly reduce stress!

Get out in nature:

Here are more ways to reduce stress.

5) Super learning!

Write a summary.

Via Daniel Coyle's excellent book The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills:

Here are more ways to increase learning.

6) Develop mind control powers!

There’s a hidden reason people love superhero stories. Comics can easily be dismissed as fiction or fantasy, when actually superpowers are as real as any ability you might have.

As a coach I work with parents, teens, and young adults. Sometimes asking questions about values, strengths, and identity can be like inviting a young person to enter the door of a darkened room.

One way I love to have this conversation is to ask, “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

This question is the doorway to a vast imaginative world of immense possibilities.

This morning I was in a conversation with a young guy I’ll call “Simon.” He is twelve years old and has been dealing with a bunch of challenging life situations.

When I asked him this question, he said without a moment’s pause, “Easy! I would be able to pause time.”

He went on to tell me he wanted to have this superpower since he was four years old.

We went on to talk about how this superpower could help him and what he’d be able to do with it.

The big shift happened when I asked, “Do you realise you already have this ability?”

Before we go on, what would be your superpower?

Close your eyes (if it helps) and imagine having any superpower in the world. Allow yourself to daydream for a while. Let it come to you.

You might pick something like x-ray vision or being able to fly. Don’t immediately dismiss it if you think humans can’t do these things.

In comics and films, superpowers are symbolic of a deep inner quality or desired human strength.

Here’s what I mean:

Whatever your special power, think about how it relates to your life. One of these may have jumped out at you with a thought like, “Gosh, I wish I had that.”

My belief is that we cannot imagine any quality that doesn’t already exist in us at some level.

So when I worked with Simon, our conversation was about how to develop the quality of pausing time. And if you think a twelve year old cannot handle a conversation about time as an illusion, think again.

We talked about how the mind wants to race into the future to fix things (worry, anxiety, planning) or get trapped in the past (regret, guilt, memory-holds).

But all superheroes have one superpower in commons: they always show up right on time.

• 1) Gain super creativity! Take a hot shower. Why is a relaxed state of mind so important for creative insights? .
• 3) Gain unstoppable willpower! Eat something.
• 4) Instantly reduce stress! Get out in nature: .
• 5) Super learning! Write a summary.

You can gain real super powers. No gamma radiation, spider bites, or mutations necessary.

A few simple tips can have you performing heroic deeds in no time — cape not included.

1) Gain super creativity!

Take a hot shower.

Here are more ways to increase creativity.

2) Add powerful new habits!

Use the "20 second rule."

Look at the good habits you want to develop and see if there's a way you can make them easier to begin by 20 seconds.

Want to stop a bad habit? Increase the time it takes to initiate it by 20 seconds.

Put those gym clothes where you can reach them. Put the chocolate on the top shelf and close the cabinet.

Here are more ways to break bad habits and add good ones.

3) Gain unstoppable willpower!

Eat something.

From my interview with willpower researcher Roy Baumeister:

Here are more ways to increase willpower.

4) Instantly reduce stress!

Get out in nature:

Here are more ways to reduce stress.

5) Super learning!

Write a summary.

Via Daniel Coyle's excellent book The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills:

Here are more ways to increase learning.

6) Develop mind control powers!