Find a Winning Identity For Each Piece of Your Life
Peak Performance Coach, International Speaker, and WSJ Bestselling Author of ‘The Alter Ego Effect: The Power Of Secret Identities To Transform Your Life’ Todd Herman has been entrenched in the world of elite performers for over two decades, working with the highest achievers in sports and business to help them achieve their most ambitious goals. Simply put, Todd Herman helps ambitious people do hard things.
Creator of the multi-award-winning Leadership & Skills Development Program, 90 Day Year, and recipient of Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Companies Award, as well as the ‘Rama Award for Wisdom and Leadership’ from the Indonesian government, Todd’s professional programs, are delivered to over 200,000 professionals annually in 73 countries.
Named by the Boston Herald as a “Training Superstar,” Todd has been featured on the Today Show, Sky News, Inc Magazine, CBS, and Business Insider among others.
Originally from Alberta, Canada, Todd grew up on a large farm and ranch, where he developed a healthy dislike of chicken coops. Todd now lives in New York City with his wife and three young children and is currently the world’s worst ukulele player.
Key Questions
1. What is an alter ego, and why do you need it?
(12:21) I started developing this process and system because it’s what I used when I played sports. It allowed me to play at a higher level, despite the fact that I’m not physically gifted. My strength was really my mental game.
This alter ego idea started to take form and shape. I became the go-to person around the world to start building alter egos for people, a performance identity, make you ask yourself: on that particular field, what’s the version of you that– if you showed up on it– is custom built to win?
3. What is the biggest trick to help people with their habits and mindset?
(30:55) Totems and artifacts. When you put on a white lab coat or a white doctor’s coat, your brain encloses you in the cognitive traits and abilities of being smart, detailed, methodical, and careful. So if you ever had a task in front of you that required those skills, wearing a white lab coat will immediately increase your performance without you even trying.
A study was done around two years ago around eyeglasses, and what they found in the study was that people who put on glasses while taking a test increased their IQ points upwards of– at the very top end– 12 points.
3. What is Todd’s favorite coaching question?
(25:15) That’s an easy one. Who’s showing up, right?
Like when I leave my office domain for the day and I’m going out into the world with my family, who shows up? Because this is what makes this really powerful for people. When you really see yourself through the lenses of different identities, these different selves that you have.
There are many versions of you, Based on fields of play that you might be going onto, context, stages that you’re heading out to, roles and people that you’re around. So, I could be easily perceived as being a challenging personality type, but that isn’t me. It’s a very useful persona that helps me win in my field.
