Victims can’t be heroes. After all the mere act of heroism is in the face of everything that is a victim. Yet in today’s world and media, victims are being hailed as heroes. And the title of being a hero is becoming so diluted, distorted, and destroyed, that it rarely has any weight to it.
This site is here to serve your desire to become great in every sense and in every capacity. To become great you have to have a clear vision of what great is. To become a hero you first need to know what a true hero is.
As a wee lad I rarely heard someone being called a hero in my home. I actually rarely heard the term awesome as well. It’s a pet peeve of my old man’s to give something great praise when it deserves little. Thunder is awesome, he would say, that knockout was good. As I’ve grown, it appears that society has devolved in its branding of who and what warrants a heroic title.
I grew up with a clear understanding of what a hero is. Today, you can turn on the TV and odds are you’ll hear someone being called a hero merely for doing what’s expected of them as a human, nothing more. And more cases than not, the “hero” is actually the victim.
Why Is Heroism Being Broken?
Today we expect so little from ourselves that anyone who does something even minimally out of the norm, is praised as a conquerer, a Legend, and a hero. If you expect nothing great from yourself, it’s easy to call yourself a hero when you do something good. Good, however, is what should be expected.
Raise your expectations and do heroic deeds.
By merely expecting more from ourselves and our society, we can bring back heroism. But there are still deeper reasons why the word is being devalued and distorted.
1. We no longer look for challenges.
In today’s society we avoid challenges like the plague, instead gravitating toward ease. We see ease as the dream, and not as the reward for work well done.
Our entire society is becoming a “gimme state”, a nanny state where we depend on others to take care of us. A hero needs no one to take care of him. He seeks out challenges. He dares not avoid them because he knows that within each challenge is the opportunity for growth.
Grit is nearly absent from our culture. As such, we don’t praise only those who do great things, but those who survive. We need to start looking for challenges, and we need to bring back a culture that sees the value in hard work and doing more than what is required of you, not a culture that is satisfied with collecting off of the backs of those who’ve done what’s necessary to earn it (i.e. sought out challenges).
2. We place too much value of comfort.
A hero can exist only on the outside of comfort, in tribulation. Why? Because this is the only way we can grow. We cannot grow, evolve, and flourish in comfort and ease. It’s impossible.
We’ve begun to coin average people as heroes because we’re no longer developing heroic qualities.
3. We don’t do what we say.
People post motivational tips on social media as if they’re the words they live by. More often than not, they aren’t. Most people like the idea of hard work and discipline, but they don’t like the action involved with it. Posting something about sacrifice on social media is enough to make them feel like they’re actually doing something. The problem:
We rarely do what we say we do.
People want to be seen as workers, while the reality is often far from the illusion they’re portraying. When someone actually is what they say they are, they’re a hero. They’re a hero because they’ve put into action what everyone only talks about. Should this not be expected?
If you say something, or say you are something or say you will do something, should you not be expected to do that thing?
4. We’ve become complacent.
Surviving danger, in my mind, doesn’t warrant the moniker of hero. Why? Because you’re surviving. Oscar Schindler was a hero because he put himself into danger to save others. William Wallace was a hero because he died so others could be free.
Heroism isn’t surviving, it’s surviving for a greater purpose. It’s excelling in the face of fear, danger, and darkness, and bringing others along with you to the light.
5. We praise victims.
A victim cannot be a hero. People are born into hardship everyday. Actually, most people are born into some circumstance that is undesirable. But most people cannot be called heroes, it diminishes the title. And I don’t wish to call everyone a hero simply for existing. A hero should be called a hero because he or she has done something heroic!
Today, however, the media grabs hold of a sob story and turns the person who is doing what should merely be expected of them into a hero.
You are not a hero because you’re getting, or have gotten, sober. You’re merely returning to an existence where you can benefit others and function as a human being. This is where you should have always been! Take pride in getting sober, but do it because being a drunk, a drug addict, an addict of any kind is a disservice to you, and everyone in contact with your existence.
Heroes are rarely celebrities. I saw a stat that I don’t care to dig up where Ellen Degeneres gave away 20k, or some amount around that range. Good for her. I’m serious. Not everyone in her position would give money to those who need it. She, of course, is no hero because of this act especially when you compare it to what she makes in a year. It’s miniscule. Then you have a guy like Mitt Romney who’s vilified for how much money he makes. Romney and his wife, Ann, gave 29.4 percent of their income to charity in 2011, donating $4,020,772 out of the $13,696,951 they took in.
Neither are heroes in my mind. They’re good people, sure, but somehow one is given this moniker because they’re seen as a victim in some way, and the other isn’t because he isn’t seen as a victim.
How to Be Your Own Hero
1. Stop being a victim.
If you think you’re hard done by, or in a situation where you can’t succeed, you can’t be a hero. If you in any way feel sorry for yourself, you cannot be a hero because what you’re waiting for is a hero to come rescue you. Man the fuck up! Take control of your life and maybe one day you will earn what you want in life.
2. Don’t look for help.
We need help. Everyone does. I’ve had many a helping hand in my business, life, and my own personal development. But no matter how much help I receive, it’s still on me – as it’s still on you – to make my way in this world. It’s on you. It’s all on you. Enjoy this fact. By all means get help where you can, but if you’re a hero you’re not waiting for someone to swoop in and save the day.
3. Serve.
A hero isn’t heroic because he saves himself. The nature of a hero is that his deeds are done in the service of others. Heroism is selfless, not selfish.
4. Don’t follow your passion.
Follow your passion. What a load of bullshit. Passion isn’t followed, it’s created. Here’s something I snagged from Mark Cuban’s blog that talks about “following your effort”, not following your passion.
- When you work hard at something you become good at it.
- When you become good at something you will enjoy doing it more.
- When you enjoy doing something there is a good chance that you will become passionate or more passionate about it.
- When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.
Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions and to success, however you define it. CONTINUE READING ON PAGE 2 >>>
