Have you ever met Vainman? He is Clark Kent’s twin brother. Here is a picture of him. No brave acts of selfless heroism for him – he’s too busy at a photoshoot and checking his Instagram likes.
Now, bad superhero/ines can exist at the other end of the action spectrum.
For example, the new superheroine I would never like to see added to the Marvel Universe is Bounder.
She’s selfless alright. She can bungee jump from ten thousand feet into the heart of any city without a scratch – and she never feels fear.
Her other superpower is that she is kick ass at boundary setting.
Now, did you notice I said that this is BAD idea for a superheroine?
Bounder is a crummy idea because she gives us the false impression that
(A) Setting boundaries involves doing really scary things
(B) Setting boundaries is proof of having vast reserves of courage
Wrong on both counts.
I used to be both terrified of setting boundaries, and convinced that I had to somehow build up lots of courage before I could stand my ground.
The truth is that there is a way to set boundaries that allows you to build your courage as you go.
Also: you can reframe any boundary setting act as a success, no matter what the response is.
And fear of the response is surely where the fear of boundary setting lies.
If you want to know more about how you can use boundary setting to build your courage and reframe it so you are essentially failure proof, then have a look at the two-minute video about my Boundary Setting 101 Week starting 17th May.
And as for Bounder?
I just heard that Hollywood have scrapped Bounder and are going back to the drawing board. How about Scrap Iron Man – an action movie set in a wrecker’s yard?
Give those Marvel films a rest and come and attend the Boundary Setting 101 Week masterclasses. It’s free, so there is no excuse.