How our heroes can boost motivation
Scientific litsketch on boosting motivation
Research shows that taking an outsider's view on your own situation, which is referred as self distancing, is an effective strategy for strengthening our grit (White et al. 2017). Instead of relying only on your own thoughts, judgements and abilities, distance yourself from the problem by pretending to be someone else, whether it be your personal hero or someone who you respect the most.
In an experiment, children were divided into three groups. Group One was asked to think about and pretend to be like a hero who works really hard. Group Two was asked to think about their own thoughts and feelings. Group Three was asked to think about themselves as a third person.
The results showed that Group One that pretended to be a hero increased their grit the most when working on a long and boring task. The research explains that self distancing by pretending to be our personal hero can help us identify with our hero’s powerful features and characteristics, imitating their power and strength.
Some of us might rely on God’s power and strength and others might rely on their father or mother, a great historical heroic figure. Indeed, science tells us that if we lay down our old self, and put on a new self that is in the likeliness of our hero by acting like our hero, pretending to be a hero who is greater than us, we can temporarily extract the power and strength of our hero, and use them to overcome major challenges.
Pretend that you are more powerful and strong like your hero to distance yourself from the problems you face. This will give your mind the power and strength of your hero, and help you focus on achieving your goals with more grit.
Who is your personal hero that you want to imitate?
White, R. E., Prager, E. O., Schaefer, C., Kross, E., Duckworth, A. L., & Carlson, S. M. (2017). The “Batman Effect”: Improving perseverance in young children. Child development, 88(5), 1563-1571.