+1: My All-Time Favorite Hero (Yours?) (#1290)

Here’s Their (and YOUR!) Superpower

 

In our last +1, we re-activated our +1 series and I made a 10,000-day commitment to you. 

 

Well, technically I made a 10,319-day commitment to you.

 

Every day, from now until January 1, 2051, I commit to showing up in your inbox with a quick little splash of more wisdom in less time. If I don’t show up, assume either our technology died or I died. (Hah. Seriously.) (I’m all in.)

 

Why have I made that commitment? 

 

That’s a very good question. With a range of possible answers. 

 

One of the reasons can be found on one of the tattoos on my left forearm. 

 

If you look closely above the “I” and the “C” in my “HEROIC” tattoo, you’ll see “51 | 2051.” Then, if you look closely below the “I” and the “C” in my “HEROIC” tattoo, you’ll see “101 | 1M.”

 

The 51 | 2051 represents my commitment to helping create a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by the year 2051. The 101 | 1M represents HOW we will do that.

 

The 101 is shorthand for the Soul Force I am committed to helping you activate in your life.

 

But…

 

We’re getting ahead of ourselves.

 

Let’s step back for a moment and talk a little more about what “Soul Force” is in the first place.

 

To make the point, I’d like to ask you a question…

 

Who’s your favorite hero?

 

Seriously. Take a moment and think about that right now. Who comes to mind? 

 

I have a few of my favorite Heroes in my studio and on my office wall behind me. Great teachers and leaders who inspire me to show up as the best, most Heroic version of myself. 

 

Aristotle. Epictetus. Marcus Aurelius. Abraham Lincoln. Winston Churchill. Gandhi. Abraham Maslow. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

 

My wife and I even named our kids after two of our favorite Heroes: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Eleanor Roosevelt. 

 

So… Again… Who inspires YOU?!

 

Seriously.

 

What individuals—living or dead—embody the qualities you most admire? 

 

What individuals showed up and lived in a way that deeply inspires YOU to show up and give us all you’ve got?

 

As you think about that, know this… 

 

All those Heroes showed up in their own idiosyncratic way—Gandhi was frail and would go days without talking while Churchill was portly and rarely STOPPED talking!! … And those two guys didn’t even LIKE each other!

 

BUT…

 

ALL of those Heroes had ONE thing in common. 

 

It’s what Aristotle had and what he helped ignite in Alexander the Great. 

 

It’s what Epictetus had and what he helped Marcus Aurelius cultivate in his life.

 

It’s what Gandhi had and is the force that freed his nation. (And, for the record, it was GANDHI who actually gave this power its name.)

 

It’s what Martin Luther King, Jr. had, and, inspired by HIS hero Gandhi, something he actually talks about it in his “I have a dream” speech.

 

It’s what Eleanor Roosevelt had. And Florence Nightingale. And Helen Keller and Anne Frank and COUNTLESS others who may have made it into our history books or may have just humbly made an anonymous yet indelible mark on our world by deeply inspiring their friends and families and communities.

 

So… 

 

What's the ONE thing ALL the great Heroes across all cultures throughout history have had in common?

 

SOUL FORCE. 

 

It’s every Hero’s superpower. 

 

SOUL FORCE. 

 

It’s that ineffable power you can feel in human beings living in integrity with their highest ideals. 

 

SOUL FORCE. 

 

It’s the force that can (literally) change the world. 

 

And guess what…

 

It’s YOUR superpower as well. 

 

We just need to ACTIVATE IT. 

 

Not SOMEDAY. 

 

But TODAY. 

 

And then, very importantly!!, we need to REACTIVATE our Soul Force ALL DAY EVERY DAY. 

 

THAT, my dear friend, is how we can tap into YOUR Heroic potential and fundamentally and permanently change your life while fundamentally and permanently changing the world together. 

 

And doing THAT is what Heroic is all about. 

 

For now, I want to wrap up with one more question…

 

Ultimately, do you know who my all-time favorite Hero is…?

 

I’ll give you a hint… 

 

Go look in the mirror. 

 

My all-time favorite Hero is, unquestionably… YOU. 

 

YOU are the Hero we’ve been waiting for. 

 

And helping YOU activate your Soul Force is my ultimate mission in life.

 

Day 1, Hero.

 

Let’s go.