For the Curious: Unlocking your superpowers
Mundane or otherwise
My pal Toby often talks about mundane superpowers. It’s a really good icebreaker if you need to ask an innocuous question of someone you don’t really know to - yanno, break the ice. It’s one of my favourites, along with “what are you excited about right now?”. Both so much more interesting than “what do you do?”
But the concept of a mundane superpower is really simple - it’s the idea that you’re really, really great at something that no-one would be particularly impressed by. It’s not that you can move objects with your mind, it’s more that you’re really good at data entry (me), self checkouts (my husband) or washing up (Toby). I think about mundane superpowers a lot - because there’s so much we’re all great at that we don’t give ourselves credit for. Data entry makes up probably 0.01% of my daily life but it’s still something I’m actually very good at (believe it or not).
It’s a well known fact that we have an in-built negativity bias that means we focus more on the bad shit than we do the good. It’s significantly harder for us to think about what we’re good (nay, great!) at because our brains are programmed to keep us safe from bears and wolves and relishing the fact that we’re absolutely ace at putting numbers into a spreadsheet doesn’t contribute to that. Our brains keep us alert to dangers (or where we need to develop to avoid danger) much more easily than the stuff that makes our lives easier or better.
I wonder what your mundane superpower is (please, please let me know in the comments. But I’m also wondering what other things you dismiss that you naturally excel at. The things that maybe don’t look shiny or impressive. Yeah, maybe you can’t control the weather with your eyeballs, but I bet you any money you’re a great parent, a good friend, a brilliant partner. Maybe you’re a fantastic gardener, a good dancer. Maybe the muffins you make are absolutely second to none. Whatever your meaningful superpower is, when was the last time you reflect on it?
I do a lot of work around confidence with my coaching clients - both as part of Authenticity Unlocked and bespoke coaching programmes - and one thing people find collectively difficult is saying what they’re good at, or seeing where their strengths already lie and how they can develop. And I wonder if starting with our mundane superpowers - things that don’t mean anything, that no validation needs to be linked to - is key to recognising our inner powers.
What if our mundane superpowers are actually clues to our deeper inner powers? The quiet things we’re naturally brilliant at. The ways we bring creativity, calm, confidence or authenticity into the world — those are worth noticing. And celebrating.
Creativity might show up as your ability to find joy and wonder in small moments.
Confidence might be the way you always speak up for others.
Calm might show up for you when you’re the anchor in a room full of chaos.
I’ve been thinking about all of this a lot lately, and it’s part of what inspired me to create a free quiz to help you explore which of your superpowers you’re ready to unlock right now. It’s fun, thoughtful and might just remind you of the quiet brilliance you’ve had all along, as well as the quiet parts of life you might like to nurture.
So here’s your invitation: What’s your mundane superpower? And what might it be pointing to about your deeper strengths? I’d love to hear your answer. Drop me a note in the comments below, or reply to this email to land in my inbox. I’m all ears.
I’d love your insight…
I’m thinking a lot about the work I do and how I do it. One thing I’m really keen to do is make sure that coaching is accessible as possible. I’m currently running two 1:1 programmes (Creative Calm and Authenticity Unlocked) but 1:1 programmes can be really costly. I’d LOVE to know, if Creative Calm and/or Authenticity Unlocked were group programmes, with a 1:many approach, a lower price ticket but still big impacts, is it something you’d be interested in? Please let me know below!
As ever, thanks so much for reading, and for being here. I really appreciate this lil space on the internet to write and talk about my work. It’s a weird time to be self employed (especially when there’s lots of personal stuff rumbling - maybe more on that soon) so I’m grateful I can share my work with you. Please do forward this on to anyone you think might be interested.
