Should You Have An Alter-Ego?

Should You Have An Alter-Ego?

Tim and I got a Wii for ourselves right after the holidays. We also got a Wii Fit. It is a whole ton of fun and you actually do get a pretty good workout on the Fit (and you find out exactly how un-coordinated you are!).

If you’ve never played Wii, here’s the overview: It is a video game system that actually interacts with your body movements. So to play tennis, you need to swing the controller just like you would swing a racquet. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Anyway, when you first set it up, you build a “Mii” which is an avatar of yourself. So I set up “Andy” who is dark blonde with big blue eyes and a big smile. Sound familiar? (by the way, you can name them anything you want, and even pick their favorite color. Andy’s is purple, so she’s usually in a purple shirt). Now Andy tries to play sports, and she loves playing, but she’s not all that good, in fact, Tim-Mii knocked her out in boxing! Well, after a few days of getting beaten in every sport (even Hula-Hoop!!!) I decided it was time to take massive action.

Introducing…Bad Andy. Bad Andy is my new Mii. She kicks butt. She has black hair, big pointy glasses (like from back in the 50’s like a cats-eye), wears black all the time (to intimidate her opponent), and she is GREAT at every sport. In fact, last night Bad Andy challenged Tim-Mii to a game of NCAA College Football. She even let Tim-Mii be the Gators! And guess what, She Won! Not only did she win, but she Skunked Him (that means he got Zero points!).

Now why is it that just by changing my Mii to a kick-butt, no excuses, take-no-prisoners attitude avatar, I can also play the sports better?

Hmmmmmmm.

What if we took that same experience and flipped it over to our careers?

What if every day we woke up and said “I’m Best Realtor ___ ” and faced the day with that attitude. When I’m playing Wii, I continually psych myself up by taunting Tim-Mii with things like “Look out, Bad-Andy’s gonna shut you down” and “Bad-Andy’s the best skier, you don’t stand a chance!”

How ’bout “Look out short-sale lender, you’re dealing with Best Realtor/Negotiator Matt , so you might as well just sign off on my deal right now!” or maybe “You might as well just list it with me, I’m going to sell it anyway!”

Who do you think would be more likely to get the listing…Best Realtor Andy who thinks she’s going to get it, or…

Meek/Broke/Desperate Realtor Bob who goes in thinking “They’re going to hate me. They’re going to know that I’ve never listed a property before…if I don’t get this listing I’m going to have to get a J-O-B… man, maybe I should just cancel the appointment.”

Many people dream about being someone else. There’s an entire web-world called “Second Life” where people set up avatars of who they wish they were but either physically can’t or are afraid to be in real life. The internet has made it possible to be whoever you want to be. In fact, there’s a cute country song out right now by Brad Paisley called “Online” that goes like this:

I work down at the Pizza Pit And I drive an old Hyundai
I still live with my mom and dad, I’m 5 foot 3 and overweight
I’m a scifi fanatic, A mild asthmatic…
But there’s whole ‘nother me That you need to see, Go checkout MySpace
‘Cause online I’m out in Hollywood, I’m 6 foot 5 and I look darn good
I drive a Maserati I’m a black-belt in karate
And I love a good glass of wine…
I’m so much cooler online.

(yes Ethan, I’m quoting country songs again!)

Tomorrow, you can make the decision who you will be. Will you be Meek/Broke/Desperate Realtor Bob? Or will you be Best Ever ___ in the history of the world?

I hope you choose well!