The Magic of Character Invention | the Curiosity Chronicle

By the late 2000s, Beyoncé was already a global superstar. Few were aware that she had struggled with nerves and anxiety throughout her career, dating back to her days performing as a child.

Beyoncé had engaged in a textbook example of Character Invention, a technique grounded in drama therapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming in which the user creates a character that can show up and perform in the situations that induce fear or self-doubt.

Kobe Bryant famously created the "Black Mamba" alter ego in a similar vein, a character that was relentless and fiercely competitive who would show up in big moments on the court.

The general strategy: Create a character in your mind who can show up in the way you want to and teach yourself to "flip the switch" to become this character when necessary.

Envision the character that you would like to embody in this situation:

To bring this to life, here are three characters that I try to turn on during a typical day: