how to become a superhero

This essay is an excerpt from The Way of The Karma Yogi , my new book.

We all have a superhero inside us, believe it or not. We have unique talents inside us but we let our old belief system, distractions and associations determine the outcome of our life. We need to let go of all the excess and fluff in our lives and figure out what interests and passions drive us. And then we need to cultivate those passions and start expressing them. Only then we will be able to unleash the superhero within us. Even if we’re not wearing a cape or a mask, we know we are doing things that need to be done to express the genius that has been lying dormant inside us.

Doing the thing that we love the most and devoting time to pursue personal and professional development puts us on the path of perennial success. As the popular financial advice suggests us to pay ourselves first whenever we receive our paycheck, in a similar way, it’s wise to invest our first few hours on ourselves and our betterment when we’re given a new day to live. Only then by virtue of the Compound Effect, we will arrive at a place in our future where we are not only living an extraordinary life, but also inspiring and offering meaningful service to countless people. We are not only making our lives better, but making others’ lives better too. And that’s what a superhero does — he uses his superpowers to make the world a better place to live in. That can be you, my friend.  

You don’t need an armor, a superhero suit or trendy cool gadgets to become a superhero. All you need is figuring out your purpose, your goals, your vision of how you’re going to make this world a better place, and having the courage and audacity to take actions that align with them. Your karma determines your superhero identity, not the fact that you are wearing a costume or not. As Tony Stark tells Peter Parker in the movie Spider-Man: Homecoming when he argues that he is useless without his suit: “If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”

Believe that you are a superhero who is walking with other legends and titans that are making a big difference in the world. You have been given your own unique path to walk on and it’s time that you start walking it.