The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life

by Todd Herman

A top performance expert reveals the secret behind many top athletes and creating a heroic alter ego to activate when the chips are down.

There’s only one person in the way of you untapping your You. There’s also one person who can move you out of the way so you can perform at your peak. 

That person is already inside you. You just need to unlock them. This other part of you is your Alter Ego. After twenty-one years of working with elite athletes, performers and leaders, Todd Herman has discovered how you can use your alter ego to achieve the seemingly impossible. It all clicked for Todd when he met Bo Jackson. 

When Herman met Bo Jackson, the professional athlete told him, “Bo Jackson never played a down of football in his entire life.” Bo explained that when he was young, he’d get into trouble because chaos caused by his anger issues. Then, he saw Friday the 13th and became fascinated by the cold, calculating nature of Jason Vorhees. In that moment, he resolved to stop being Bo Jackson, and start being Jason the moment he stepped on the field. 

In this transformative guide, Herman teaches you how to create and control an Alter Ego like Bo—and the thousands of other athletes, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and entertainers who have used this simple tool to change their lives. Herman also shares his own he knew that inside was a confident, self-assured, intelligent person who could help others get better results in their lives. When he started using superman’s classic trick—putting on a pair of glasses—he learned to trigger the specific traits he needed to achieve his goals.

The Alter Ego Effect is not about creating a false mask—it’s about finding the hero already inside you. It’s a proven way of overcoming the self-doubt, negativity, and insecurity that hold you back, and empowering you to ultimately become your best self.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Personal Development, Business, Audiobook, Productivity

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 5, 2019

About the author

Todd Herman is an author, performance advisor, and entrepreneur. For 22 years, his training company, Herman Performance Systems, has focused on helping achievers and ambitious people in sport & business, achieve wildly outrageous goals while enjoying the process. Originally from Alberta, Canada where he grew up on a large farm and ranch, where he developed a healthy dislike of chicken coops.

His company has a suite of programs serving Olympic athletes, Entrepreneurs, and Leaders, and is the author of, ‘The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life’, and creator of the 90 Day Year a performance system designed to create remarkable results for business owners, fast. Which has won the 'Global Leadership & Skill Development Program of the Year'—twice. He’s also the recipient of the Inc. 500 fastest growing company award. He’s been featured on the Today Show, Sky Business News, Inc Magazine and CBC National News.

He lives in New York City with his wife and three young children and is currently the worlds worst ukulele player.

Reviews

[Kristin Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept of this book but delivery could have been way better. It was twice as long as it needed to be and way too much repetition of the same stuff and superfluous info. I skimmed a few chapters but I’m glad I finished. I did underline quite a bit and it definitely has me thinking of new ideas about the potential for growth, which I always love.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay, basically just put on a new persona of who you admire and you end up becoming it. Fake it 'till you make it type of deal. Enough said really, don't really need a whole book on it.

IMO you should just be true to yourself but hey to each their own.

Basically it's positivity, and law of attraction.

[Courtney Kenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first heard about the concept of alter egos, I was intrigued. But I wondered if this would really apply to me, so I decided to read the book and find out. I am impressed and highly recommend this book.

First, the author Todd Herman is an expert in this space and has been coaching top performers for decades. Second, he explains the concepts in an engaging and relatable way with many examples of people who have used this—people you may be surprised about.

The story of the kid who snuck out of his home in DC and traveled up to NYC to see the author is awesome. You have to read it for yourself, and you’ll be inspired.

You may already be using an alter ego. I realized I was (trying to), but Herman gave me the tools to really amp it up and use it in a way that’s consistent.

Also, great takeaways from this book were the 5 bridges to progress and moments of impact. Since reading this book, I’ve started thinking about my career and relationships in those terms and already see a huge difference.

I love the way this book contains actionable steps for you to apply the alter ego approach in your life. There are so many areas of my life—fields of play—as Todd Herman calls them, where I can use this.

[Nadeesha Cabral · Rating 1 out of 5]

Notes publised at: https://github.com/nadeesha/kb/blob/m...

## Rating

- 1/5
- I regret picking up this book. 80% of this book is fluff. 5% of it is actionable advice.
- I mostly skimmed it due to the lack of substance.

## Notes

- Human beings are really good at make-believe.
- If you're lacking in some areas of your life, you can use alter egos to help you.
- There's precedence for alter-egos found in many biographies of successful people.
- An alter ego
- Has a name
- Has defined characteristics
- Can be pictured in your mind's eye easily (visual)
- Can be based on an existing character, or a totally made up character
- Is specific to an area of your life (ex: sports, work, etc.)
- You must have a defined activation ritual for the alter ego (ex: sugar pills before the game)

[Razvan Popescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved reading since I was a kid. I've read thousands of books - many really good books. This is one of THE best books I've ever read. If I could give it 6 or 7 stars I would. I'm studying it, and I'm determined to put everything I'm learning from Todd into practice in my life.
I'm going to come right out and say the one thing I never expected to say in a review: If in your life you're only going to read one book that will mess you up and set you right, you can't get better than this one.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book changed my whole mindset

[Kristijonas Vasiliauskas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic book. highly recommend it. Very practical.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most impactful books that I have read in a long time. I had so many “aha” moments while I was reading it.

In this book, Todd magnificently takes you on a journey to discover your strengths and powers that you didn’t know you had. By creating your Alter Ego, you are then able to tap into those strengths and powers to accomplish things that you haven’t been able to do before.

[Mick Abel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year I struggled to find confidence and maintain it while at work. Todd Herman helped my process of building that, maintaining it, and how to shut it on/off. Everybody has their edge that helps them compete and thrive in whatever environment they work in, but creating an otherworldly character to compliment the edge is essential to building confidence and becoming your best self. Shoutout Todd

[Michael Madigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid mindset and has some interesting concepts. Nothing truly "revolutionary".... half way through the book I thought about putting it down and starting another one. I know this is something where you are supposed to take action and not just read from start to finish without actually doing the work - which is good and I respect that. However, I feel as if it could have been summarized and run through just as well in a 7 minute youtube video. Was very repetitive at points and got a bit mind numbing.... Picked up this book after hearing him on several different podcasts, and I feel like I got better information from hearing him talk about the process rather than reading about the process. I think he would be an amazing in person coach to have to implement this process, but I am not the biggest fan of the book.

Still would end up recommending at least checking out and will use some of his insights.

[Abdessettar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very badly written and repetitive. The book is based on a few good ideas that could have been well presented and developed in 100 pages, but instead the author keeps giving examples that are all the same which makes it very annoying, plus some ideas he gives are mix of being corny, cringe-ish, and none sense (e.g. if you believe you are Superman when you enter your field of play, you’ll perform like a beast automatically and reach excellence).

Also, the phrase “but I’ll develop/explain this later in the book” represents around 15% of the word count. I mean if a concept will be covered in a future chapter do not dedicate a whole long paragraph talking about the said paragraph sans giving any concrete information.

Overall, the idea behind the book is great but someone else should have written it in way fewer pages (heck, one could have done in a good blogpost or article) and using a better structure, better writing style, and with less corniness.

[Mischa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall plot and idea of the book is good I would say and really worth to try it out those alter egos things in daily life. But it was poorly presented: too much specifying one thing or another, author just going on and on with listing something, like if you read this book you will be smart, happy, awesome, fabulous, successful, imaginative, etc so you got annoyed and just skip such parts and so much unnecessary back and forth switching that sometimes you just lose a clue wtf he meant with that phrase, person or allegory.

Well, Tod, you're awesome dude no doubt about it and thanks for sharing such great ideas but next time make reader experience more flawless :)

[Elia Ekanindita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uniquely, practically, potentially life changing. It has so many hooks into grounded truths and emotion I feel it’s bound to work, bound to inject power and by extension meaning into my life.

The most inner-experiential and potentially outer-experiential self-help book I’ve ever come across.

Now to start with the experiment of embodying an alter ego.

[h · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Larisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit skeptical on the technique itself, but the author managed to provide both examples from real people having an alter-ego (ex. Beyonce, Martin Luther King and several sports players), and scientifical facts that support this practice (ex. Embodied cognition).
I enjoyed it because it is well structured and easy to follow as an audiobook.
All in all, I would recommend reading the book whenever you feel that you want to reinvent yourself or when you finally want to take over the "enemy" (yes, the enemy within you = fears, lack of self-confidence or other weaknesses).

[Ania · Rating 2 out of 5]

Książka zawiera sporo mądrych fragmentów, a koncepcja sama w sobie jest bardzo ciekawa, jednak z powodzeniem mogłaby być co najmniej o połowę krótsza. Merytoryczna treść została okraszona taką ilością anegdotek, powtórzeń, parafraz i samozachwytów autora, że ciężko było mi dobrnąć do końca.

[Shuhada Ramli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Alter Ego Effect
Author: Todd Herman
Rating: 4 stars
Finished Reading: January 2021
Reading Goals: 1 of 12
⠀
Wrapping up the book, I am giving 4 out of 5 ratings to it. I love the book. The content and how Todd Herman narrated it to catch my interest with so many stories to ponder. I like the examples, the experience shared in every area on how to use the Alter Ego to reach your life goals. Simple English used made the engagement of reading better.
⠀
I was touched by the story of Anthony who snuck out the house to meet Todd to guide him on how to unleash his Alter Ego, to help him to perform better. Sadly, he wanted to be "the Black Ghost" because he wanted to bring his mom and dad onto the court with him to haunt everyone.
⠀
Same goes to other stories of Beyonce (Sasha Fierce), Jim Carey and Rowan Atkinson. Those are the names that now shine bright in the world of entertainment.
⠀
Everyone has the Alter Ego. Whether you realize or utilize it, it is up to you to decide.
⠀
Superman and Clark Kent make me ponder of who I want to be.
⠀
⠀
#ReadersofMalaysia #BookReview #SelfImprovement #Scribd #Boox #Bookstagram #BookRecommendation

[Richard Tubb · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think of Alter Ego's, we typically think of mild-mannered Clark Kent turning into Superman, or billionaire Bruce Wayne donning the cowl as Batman.

In this book, author Todd Herman -- a very successful performance coach to top athletes, artists and businessmen and women -- explains why the concept of an alter ego can be used by anybody to succeed in your personal or professional life.

The book helps you create an alter ego over stages, including building a back story, finding a totem and a field of play. Once you've built your alter ago, you can then activate them to be a better athlete, salesperson, performer or even a better parent.

The author has interspersed (anonymised) accounts from his own coaching with high-performers to help you build your own alter ego. Everybody will have different motivations that will help them create an alter ego.

If this concept sounds a bit far fetched, then I'd urge you to read the book. The concepts make a lot of sense and will help anyone who has the potential to do better.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was probably better than two stars but I have an aversion to too many anecdotes and illustrative stories. That sort of thing feels too much like being forced to watch the Hallmark channel, which makes me itchy. That said, the heft of anecdotes and stories are probably helpful for people new to the concept of an alter ego and undoubtably helpful in developing one.

I bought the book after seeing it on the shelf of my local bookstore, I was shocked and overjoyed to discover someone wrote a book about something I've been doing for years. All this time I thought I might be a bit crazy. The author is very thorough in helping readers delve into the world of alter egos, how it can be used, and how to develop one. Despite my feeling like the read was a little bit of a cheesy sales pitch, it was nice to find out I'm not crazy and that this is a thing.

[Chris Yoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd put off reading this book for a long time based on the title alone. I'd felt like I was only beginning to be able to be my "whole" self in most of my life, and the title made me believe it was about being someone you weren't.

I was way off. The book is the exact opposite of that, intending to help readers better focus the skills and capabilities within themselves to their utmost in those circumstances in which they are most needed. And to be intentional about developing new skills and perspectives you may not yet have, but realize would make you a better person on whatever field you might be playing - be it a basketball court or a courtroom, the role of an actor or the role of a parent.

[Alexxis Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept is wonderful and if it intrigues you definitely skim through the book. I found a good starting point for simply thinking about who you want to be in life and where to start to build that person.

The biggest knock on it is that there was a promise on how to take action on building an alter ego and in the end I felt like there was a 1 page to-do list. I didn’t need a full book to just receive a list of 6 items. 🤷‍♀️

[Alistair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concept and an interesting angle into your ‘heroic-self’, could’ve been made shorter.

In summary:
“Get the results you want by cultivating/accessing different alter-egos to fit the field of play.
e.g.
Clark > Superman
Kobe > Black Mamba
Beyonce > Sasha Fierce

So on, and so forth.

[Ana Fernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

El año pasado empecé a leer libros de no ficción porque estaba en un punto de mi vida en el que no me gustaba la metodología que llevaba, esto no tiene absolutamente nada que ver con este libro porque eso ya hace 7 meses cuando empecé the 5 am club y empecé a cuidar mejor de mí misma. Sin embargo lo que no te dicen (y en cierto modo lo aprendes tu mismo) es que la motivación es sólo una parte muy diminuta de los cambios que quieras y que la disciplina y los días malos son importantes.
He estado en días quizá no malos pero si no tan buenos, donde estoy constantemente abrumada por cambios que suceden en espiral en mi vida (pero ¿que esperaba si estoy literalmente revolucionando mi forma de ver todo?) y en dónde vuelvo a retomar viejas costumbres que nada tienen que ver con mi evolución de ahora y me crean incongruencias así que este libro me salvó, me salvó de mí misma y de todas esas inseguridades que me paralizan cuando siento que no estoy haciendo lo suficiente, que no estoy yendo tan rápido ni tan fuerte. Porque no necesito la perfección, solo necesito seguir avanzando y no permitiendo que el miedo sea más fuerte que yo.

Este libro es eso, el inicio porque aprendes a hacerlo de forma consciente: cambiar actitudes, evitar que el miedo te venza, y el final porque aprendes a crear herramientas a partir de ti mismo, a partir de empezar a creértelo y proteger a tu ser vulnerable con un alter ego mejorado de ti, un héroe protector de ti.
Ojalá todas las personas en el mundo tengan la oportunidad de leer por lo menos una vez en su vida este libro.

[Lucas Oliveira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro razoável, com uma ideia promissora e genial, mas mal executado. O autor traz a ideia de que é possível construir um alter ego, fazendo assim uma persona capaz de coisas incríveis, como disposição numa segunda feira, disciplina inquebrável, confiança no seu taco, coisas do tipo. A ideia é apoiada em ciência, de fato. E sim, funciona.

O que não funcionou pra mim, especificamente foi o livro. É muita linguiça pra encher. O autor conta todas as histórias de seus clientes, usando codinomes e o que deveria ser inspirador torna-se um enfadonho relato de um milhão de pessoas que ele atendeu falando a mesma coisa. Repetindo e repetindo e tornando-se mais repetitivo que eu falando repetitivo, o autor deixou seu livro chato, com uma leitura arrastada e tediosa. E sim, repetitiva.

De qualquer maneira, como a ideia é boa de fato, leva as 3 estrelas. Mas caso você deseje ler, assim que pegar a essência do livro, tenha-o como lido. Vá ler outra coisa e não perca tempo chegando até o final, que, por sinal, acaba em 80%. O resto do livro é notas de referência e agradecimentos. Menos, Todd, bem menos.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like a mental playground— one that I see myself returning to intermittently throughout my life as needed. While listening to Todd Herman unpack his ideas, I had so many questions, and I think that's the whole point. This book is an invitation to think about yourself (and the world) more curiously and playfully. I appreciate that, unlike other self-help books that are fluffy and corporate-centric, this book provides tangible thought exercises that activate questions and curiosities that otherwise may have gone unnoticed.

I feel myself entering a really exciting point in my life; I'm the most confident version of myself, and I feel proud of who I am and how I approach the world/people. While I didn't find this book to be revolutionary on its own, I do think it's a helpful player in embracing the newness that surrounds me!

Here are my key takeaways and questions—
‣ Fear is often disguised as practicality or comfort.
‣ The alter ego = the voice deep inside of you that’s “checking in” and ensuring that you’re pursuing the things you feel most passionately about.
‣ Define how you want to show up → let that active your “heroic self” on your field of play.
‣ How do you balance "channeling" the alter ego versus "becoming" the alter ego?

[Huyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea of separating different "selves" for different setting. Rather than an ego being "altered", I would think of it more like stepping out of your own "ego" and evaluate each of your "self" individually and unbiasedly.

This book is no scientific (but by no means it is not a good book). It does not offer solid explanations of its methods. It is rather a practical book with step by step guide and advice to overcome your issues.

Short and concise, straight to the point. The book is not satisfying in the sense that it (kind of) tells you what to do because it works for others, too.

I quite like it.

[Fernando Cabezas Astorga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro genial de un tema no habitual y que nos marca la realidad, los ejemplos y las técnicas para trabajar el alter ego tal como se quiere crear e imitar. Más allá de la teoría, está la constatación de que el método funciona y funciona muy bien.
Es un libro nada difuso, totalmante aterrizado y aplicable. Me queda la idea y ya la estoy trabajando. No es necesario tener mucha fe para crae e imitar este alter ego, sino que son los hehos la mejor demostración de su eficacia.

[Jan Záhumenský · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read, especially if you can truly appreciate a neuroscientific fact that there isn't just one constant "self"(for that, I recommend reading Being You by Anil Seth). This book then gives you tools to unlock powers within you when you need them. There are plenty of anecdotal evidences within the book and no real facts or scientific studies, but that's what I kind of expected since the author is a performance coach.

[Debbie Cranberryfries · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by a few concepts of an alter ego
-creating a degree of power
-using it to remove yourself from judgements of others
-power to take actions
-a tool to face what scares you

I found some of this book a bit silly (like walking through how to name your alter ego or what trinket you might use to engage it).

[Leslie Pompa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of having an alter ego and there was good advice but it got very repetitive and thus had me speed reading (aka skimming) a lot of the end. I would recommend to those who want to have a different persona when it comes to a sport/work but other than that probably my least fave read of the year