When you see movies with superheroes, you are very likely to think that, hey that’s the guy who is able to do everything.
He has figured out everything in his life. No insecurities, no doubts, no self-defeating habits. No procrastination. Everything is just at the pedestal.
If you go and dig deeper into their own lives, you can notice the actual reality which is completely different.
Here is a snippet of the transcript from a Wolverine’s interview at the Tim Ferriss podcast:
So there’s so many things that I’ve learned. And I always feel like I’m going to get some wisdom that will help me in life or the people I love. And I think the nervousness came from… A bit of a habitual thought pattern with me is like, “Oh, well, you’re not that good.” Like, “You don’t know that much, man.” You know. “You’ve done all right, but you’re not the person that people are going to listen to on Tim Ferriss!” Again, you know, those doubts that clearly have fueled me in my life. And I mention that — A — to compliment you on what you’ve created, but — B — just to be completely open and honest that I have those doubts, you know? That I’m not good enough, which have driven me. Yeah, sorry if I’m going off piste here.
If you are surprised about that, chances are that social media and movies tend to portray some role models that you can follow.
If you were told that these people have their own fears, their own insecurities, and so on, then you may have not been that impressed or hooked with their movies that much.
Here is the author Neil Gaiman describing his own insecurities:
“Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.
On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”
And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”
And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.”
Now that you have seen this, remember that when you have such doubts, or insecurities, remind yourself that this is pretty normal and every human being has them.
