Become Your Own Hero

Create the circumstances that will make you a hero.

We, quite rightly, associate the Fourth of July with heroes. Our American Founding Fathers demonstrated remarkable wisdom and courage in response to the demands of the difficult times in which they lived.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and other signers of the Declaration of Independence faced a pivotal moment in history. They responded appropriately and changed the world.

I’ve just started reading Benjamin Hardy’s book, Willpower Doesn’t Work, in which he explains that our environment—time and space—determine who we become, the ways in which we succeed or not, and even whether or not we become a hero.

But his is not a fatalistic concept. We can change our surroundings and as a result change ourselves and how we live.

Heroes, it seems, become heroes not because of personality, genetics, or other “internal” factors. Heroes become heroes because a situation demands heroism of them. The one catch is that the person in the potentially heroic circumstance needs to respond heroically.

Any crisis will do to create a hero.

Each June 6, we honor the heroes created by the World War II invasion of Normandy. On July 4, we revere those who founded our nation. Not all heroes are military ones, of course. Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln come to mind. All faced a circumstance that called for courageous action.

You may have acknowledged a crisis in your life that makes you interested in doing Different (see my post “How Ready Are You to Do Different?” for a quick self-assessment of whether or not you’re in a crisis). Once you have, accept the predicament for what it is: a situation that demands a courageous response.

You can take the steps you need to “right the wrongs” in the way you’re living.

Here’s what you do to:

· Recognize your crisis.

· Accept that it’s real.

· Realize that it’s up to you to do something about it.

· Take action to change your environment and move towards how you really want to live.

Do that, and you become your own hero.

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