Which do you think is easier?

1. Calling forth and acting upon an abstract concept?
2. Or calling forth and acting like a concrete role model?

I would say the latter.

We all do this at different times of our life. We find ourselves in a situation and ask ourselves, “What would my hero/heroine do in this situation?”

This evocation of a hero is a natural way of using those we admire to help us step up in our lives.

Being a social species, we are intrinsically interested in other people, and learn better by example than by theoretical concept, says Frank Farley, PhD, a Temple University psychologist who has dedicated his career to the study of heroism. “Heroes help us learn great ideas because they are embodied in a person.”

Now think of this: What if that hero or heroine you were evoking was an embodiment of your personal, unique Awesome? Your higher-self made manifest in your mind?

This is, I believe, an important tool you can use to fully Own Your Awesome. Having an Awesome Avatar makes it easier to step up and be the best you can be in any given moment.

For example, my Awesome Avatar is the Compassionate Empress. I have a clear idea of what that phrase means to me, and what she is like. Having this visual in my mind helps me grasp the feeling of how I should be behaving in any situation. It gives me an internal role model to live up to.

I find that tuning into my Awesome Avatar is much easier than tuning into the abstract concept of my awesome or my higher self. Since I started evoking the Compassionate Empress in my life, I’ve found it much easier to experience what my awesome feels like and live up to it moment by moment.

“Heroes are neither born nor made, but forged by time, circumstance and character” wrote Catherine Fitzpatrick in an article about Sept. 11 heroism published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. By consistently and continuously evoking your Awesome Avatar, you grow into your own hero, you forge yourself over time.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world, as in being able to remake ourselves.” Tuning into your Awesome Avatar is one way you can remake yourself into your best self.

“How do you discover your Awesome Avatar?” you might be asking. I discovered mine through a confluence of processes and am now developing a more streamlined system to share with you. Keep an eye out for what I come up with in the next few months.