What’s My Alter Ego? (find your alter ego in 5 steps)
We all have different personas for different situations. And sometimes, we don’t have the confidence to show up how we truly want. Alter egos offer a solution, and they’re honest…like a version_2 persona of yourself.
Society, expectations and the cultural ego we all carry around are heavy.
But our ego isn’t bad. It’s a representation of our experiences, culture, personality, beliefs, passions, creativity and self-expression.
And it’s dynamic and malleable.
Learning how to create an alter ego is a way to embrace whoever it is you want to become (or who you truly are deep down but are afraid to be).
This is a guide on how to embody your other self. Let’s get to it.
Table of Contents
What Is An Alter Ego?
An alter ego is an alternate version of yourself, who embodies a unique set of characteristics, quirks or even goals. It’s the Batman effect——a suit you can throw on during difficult, new, creative or stressful situations.
For me, it’s a life hack and a way to “try out” different traits, which may be better suited for pursuing different goals and projects.
Having an alter ego is like playing a different role in your own movie.
Life is a story, but you’re not just the main character. You’re also the director, the producer, the writing team, the composer and so on.
So create the life you’d want to live (a movie you’d want to watch). Alter egos help you get there.
Is It Normal to Create An Alter Ego?
Definitely. There’s proof.
This site and everything I do for my personal brand identity is technically an alter ego. It’s just not a dramatic difference.
It’s slight tweak on my real name…I dropped the extra “f” and “n”. It’s not much, but this small change really does put me in a different mindset.
I also like the way it looks visually.
But there are plenty more examples besides me:
Raphael’s real name is Raffaello Sanzio, Salvador Dalí’s name is actually Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí I Domènech and plenty of musicians (like Sasha Fierce/Beyoncé or Halsey), authors (like Mark Twain), bloggers and artists have all used this strategy.
So trust me, it’s not that strange!
Who Uses Alter Egos?
Artists
Athletes
Students
Teachers
Musicians
Creatives in general
Writers and bloggers
Travelers needing confidence
Entrepreneurs and business leaders
Anyone interested in personal development
Reasons to Create An Alter Ego
Embrace your awesome weirdness with more confidence
Improve your objectivity and external self awareness
It’s a form of mental rehearsal and visualization
Feel a strong sense of personal empowerment
Adopt more desirable personality traits
It helps with imposter syndrome
Create an artist identity
It’s creatively fun
How to Create An Alter Ego (5 steps)
1. Define the Goals
What do you want and why?
Who do you want to become?
Clarify is asking the right questions:
Why do you want an alter ego?
What will you use it for?
What are your core values?
Is this a personal or a professional endeavor?
Will your creativity be different with an alter ego?
What are your expectations for creating an alter ego?
How effective do you believe it will be?
These are all solid things to consider. They provide a North Star and reveal deeper motivations for why you want to create an alternative persona.
2. Identify Your Current Persona
If your persona was a map, you’d need starting coordinates for any directions to any destination to make sense.
So what is your current persona?
What are your characteristics and which ones do you want to keep or lose?
It’s hard to be totally honest with ourselves, but the more self awareness you have, the stronger and clearer your alter ego will be.
So who are you, right now?
List out your traits, habits, personality quirks and goals. Craft your current persona as a starting point.
3. List Out Ideal Characteristics
Once you know why you’re creating an alter ego and where you’re starting from, it’s time to get creative.
Brainstorm ideal traits and characteristics you want to embody.
It helps to organize your traits into categories. For example, one bucket for emotional traits, one for style and one for habits.
There’s no right or wrong answers, but here are some tips:
Meditate on it
Test a few ideas (like test driving a car)
Stay patient——let things marinate
Try visualization techniques
Research people who have the life you want
Once you’ve got a list of characteristics and ego nuances, pick the top ones that best embody your alter ego goals.
4. Create Your Alter Ego’s Profile
After dialing in on character traits, it’s time to expand things further by creating a full persona profile.
At this point, we’re bringing your alter ego into full vision. It’s like we’re writing a character into existence based on our imagination.
Your alter ego persona can have:
A separate backstory
Unique motivations
Personal values
Specific personalities traits
Different fashion and style
A different lifestyle
New friends or network
Different hobbies and passions
Unique goals
5. Embody Your Alter Ego
Getting into character is like method acting. It takes your alter ego off the proverbial paper and puts it into practice.
You’re bringing it to life. So it’s time to get into character and use your alter ego in a real creative project or goal.
Here are some tips:
Start small — take baby steps
Meet new people
Change your spaces to reflect your alter ego
Consume different content
Stay aware
Go easy on yourself (setbacks are part of the process)
Have fun with it
Later ✌️
Creating an alter ego starts with the intention to do so and clarifying your motivations.
Then, it’s as simple as understanding your current self, where you want to go and then practicing those ideal alter ego traits.
Well, it’s always easier said than done. But that’s the basic formula I follow.
The most important part is to have fun with this. Life is a movie — a great creative act — and you can play any role you want. Explore, test, imagine. Change often, find yourself anew or rediscover your inner child.
Over time, alter egos can become ‘normal’ egos. This is normal, we’re constantly changing.
So I say, may as well sit in the driver’s seat.
Want More? Nice. Here’s More.
