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Welcome to the Travel Transformation Podcast with me, Jessica Grace Coleman, the podcast where we talk all things travel and all things transformation. Today is just going to be a quick solo episode all about creating your epic travel alter ego. And I really like this. I find this really fun, so hopefully this will be a fun one too.

So, basically, I have an online academy called the Travel Transformation Academy, but before that, it was an academy for female entrepreneurs who wanted to start their own business. So this is when I initially came up with the whole alter ego thing; it's like a mini course and a PDF in my Academy.

It was originally for getting into the mindset and the zone to get down to work and achieve things that you would normally find either scary or just really overwhelming. But I also think it works really well for travel because if you're anxious about travelling at all, especially if it's solo travelling, it can be a lot. And just sitting down and booking that flight can be a huge, huge mental block and a mindset issue that you need to get over. And I think this really fun exercise can really help. 

So, it's in my Academy – it's actually part of my Flip the Script Framework for building a business that you can run on the road, but I'm just going to take the little bit out of there, go through the PDF document that I created, and do a mini version for you for this podcast episode. If you want to have a look at the full thing – and there's so much more than just this in the Academy – you can go to traveltransformationcoach.com/academy to find out more details. So, let's get started creating your epic travel alter ego.

Okay, so this is all about mindset. It's about believing you can do something. And, as I said before, it was about believing you can build your own business and be successful and do all the stuff you need to do to get a business off the ground, which is a lot of scary stuff.

But, as I say, it also works in travel. If you're thinking about a trip but you haven't quite got around to booking it yet, or if you're considering staying in a coliving but the thought scares you, or if you have a burning desire to try the digital nomad lifestyle, but it just seems too overwhelming and too much and too impossible, then this exercise will really help, I believe.

Okay, so what is an alter ego? One of the examples I give in the little mini course is Walter White in Breaking Bad. Walter is a normal, quiet, conventional science teacher until he gets diagnosed with cancer and starts cooking meth so he can afford his hospital bills, of course, essentially becoming a drug lord. 

Now, this transformation takes a while – if you've watched the show, you know – but one thing that greatly speeds up the process is the introduction of his alter ego, Heisenberg. When he's Walter, he's a boring teacher with a boring life who now has cancer. When he's Heisenberg, though, he turns into a fearless kingpin who doesn't take crap from anyone and who is quite happy to resort to violence to get what he wants. He essentially becomes the person he needs to be to get the job done. And we can do the same thing, though hopefully not the drug lord part. 

Walter has a special item he uses to switch between the two personalities: the iconic pork pie hat, and occasionally his sunglasses as well. Whenever he puts on the hat, we know he's transforming from timid Walter, who always gets walked all over, into badass Heisenberg. We know some shit's about to go down. 

Now, I'm really not condoning the whole meth drug lord empire thing, but we can take a lot of inspiration from how Walter turns into Heisenberg when he needs to do something specific – especially something hard, something dangerous, something outside his comfort zone.

So, you're going to create an alter ego for yourself. You're going to embody that person whenever you need to do something hard or something that scares you, like booking that flight or booking that coliving, or maybe quitting your job and becoming a digital nomad... who knows? So, even if you're feeling unsure, full of fear and doubt, or just not ready, it won't matter because your alter ego is always ready, and they don't take any shit from anyone.

You're going to come up with a name, a personality, a transformational song, and a transformational item that will symbolise you stepping into your alter ego's shoes – quite literally in my case, which I'll talk about in a moment. 

When I did this exercise, a while ago now, I turned to my love of country music. I love female country music stars like Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and the goddess herself, Dolly Parton. Feisty blonde bombshells from Southern states who sing about kicking ass and doing their own thing. I also love country music men, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't really work for this alter ego exercise. So my alter ego is an ass-kicking southern country music star who, to paraphrase Miranda Lambert in her song, Little Red Wagon, plays guitar and goes on the road and does all the shit you want to do.

I've called her Charlene Summers. This is an homage to Charlene from Neighbours – I love the TV show Neighbours, I'm so glad it's coming back – and to one of my own characters from one of my fiction books, The Former World: Veronica Summers, who is a kind of feisty badass lady who doesn't take crap from anyone, who just goes after what she wants. So when you come up with your name, make sure it means something to you. Take names from famous people or people you know, people you admire, people you respect, people you would like to be more like. 

And my transformational item, which we'll talk about in a bit, are my bright red cowboy boots. They fit with the whole red theme of Little Red Wagon and the whole music video where everything is red. They fit with my love of country music and my alter ego being based on country music stars. And I just love cowboy boots. They're also easy to put on when I need to become my alter ego; make sure it's something you can easily put on and take off when you need to. 

So, when I need to leave my doubts behind, get down to business, or book a flight or do whatever I need to do that's a bit scary, I just get in the right headspace. Basically, I ask myself: What would Charlene Summers do? Would she be nervous or scared? Would she hide away? Would she not show up and go after her dreams no matter what? No. She would just go forward without any doubts, any fears, or any limiting beliefs, and do what she needs to do to get the job done or to pursue that dream lifestyle that you might not think is possible right now. 

So, the first thing you're going to do – and there are another couple of things here – but the first thing you're going to do is think of someone you admire, or make a list of someones, like me with the country singers. Write down their names, and write down why you admire them. Are they brave? Daring? Tenacious? Do they not take no for an answer? Are they true to themselves? Do they have great core values? Or do they simply rock awesome leather jackets and look cool no matter what? No judgment. Whoever you find amazing, write them down. This will give you inspiration for your own alter ego. 

Okay, next you're going to come up with a name for your alter ego that will embody this new personality that you're going to go for based on what you've just written down. Like I say, mine was based on two fictional characters, one from Neighbours, one from my own books.

You could base it on people you admire, you respect, famous people, people in your life, anything like that. Write down a first name, and a last name that means something to you. So when you think of that name, you immediately picture this incredible person who can go out and do whatever they want to do.

Next, you're going to come up with a transformational item like my red cowboy boots. So this is something you're going to put on right before you transform into your alter ego. It will help you become that person. Items of clothing or accessories work great. Something you can easily put on and off. Or it could be something like a certain lipstick colour that you wouldn't normally wear, like a bold red – that would work well for me too. Or it could be a perfume, like scent and smells. They really evoke certain emotions in us. They can take us back to certain memories. They can give us a boost when we need it. So I would highly recommend maybe doing a perfume as well as an accessory – or cologne if you're a guy, whatever you want. 

You could also think of a mantra to say to yourself to get you in the zone. That would be a good idea too. Something as simple as: What would Charlene Summers do? Or whatever your alter ego name is. 

And, lastly, I want you to come up with a song for your alter ego. As I said, mine is Little Red Wagon by Miranda Lambert. Just choose something that fits with your alter ego personality, their name, their item, and that makes you feel good, whatever that means for you. Something that pumps you up, something that gets you going. Something that reminds you that you can go out there and achieve anything you want. Just make it awesome, and a song you really love generally. 

Now, you've got all the tools, you've got all the items, and now you can become your alter ego whenever you need to get shit done.

So, if it's me, I would put my red cowboy boots on – maybe my red lipstick, now I've thought of that – and I would maybe put some perfume on. I would put my transformational song on, Little Red Wagon, and I would ask myself: What would Charlene Summers do? And I would spend the entire song getting in the mindset of Charlene Summers. 

And, as soon as that song is over, I am logging on. I am booking that flight, I am booking that coliving. I'm doing whatever I need to do because Charlene Summers is not scared of anything. 

Now, this may sound a little silly, but it actually really works. And the more you do it, the more you train yourself and train your brain to get used to transforming into this person – and, in my case, in particular, literally stepping in their shoes.

It's not just me, it's not just Walter White. Have you ever heard of Beyonce and Sasha Fierce? Loads of performers do this to get in the right zone. Loads of business people I know have a sort of alter ego that they turn to when they need to do the hard stuff, and it's kind of making them do all the work. You don't need to find the courage or the confidence to do something, because you know your alter ego already has that in spades and it's nothing to them to go and book a flight or do whatever you need to do. 

I love this, and like I say, I have it in my Academy based for entrepreneurs, but it can be used for anyone. I particularly love one of my clients who's in the Academy – she did this, and this was her absolute favourite bit of the entire Academy. And, like I say, there's a lot of stuff in there. She said it helped her overcome burnout, doubt, and impostor syndrome. This is a huge thing to overcome impostor syndrome, especially with business, and she actually said it was ‘life-changing’ – and I am literally quoting her there, I am not putting words in her mouth. So that was nice to hear. 

I also love what she did. I can't remember the name of her alter ego, but I know she had a feathery hair clip that she could easily put in and take out. And she'd also created a Pinterest board, which she showed me, of all the people she admired, all the clothes she wished she could wear, all the people she really respected and who she would want to be like. I thought that was a really good idea, so I would recommend creating a Pinterest board. Maybe if you're old school and want to do a sort of vision board, you can print things out and stick them on your wall and stuff like that to remind you of your alter ego and when you need to become them. And yeah, if you do it over and over and over again, I promise, it really does help. 

And, yeah, basically, I just want to move to America and be a country music star. It's just a shame I can't sing or play guitar or do any of that, really, but in my mind, I can – with my alter ego. 

Okay, so that's it for today's quickie. I hope it helped. I hope you do it. I hope it's something you find fun, because this is a fun exercise. It's a really fun exercise, and it can really help you as well. 

I actually came up with this a couple of years ago, and then when I was in a coliving in Spain, in the Basque Country, I met a lady there who does a lot of speaking on stage, and she had a particular necklace or pendant that she would wear before she went on stage, and she called it her totem. So that's another word for something like this, like a transformational item. So if you want to call it a totem, if that sounds better, then that's really cool.

And, yeah, something like a necklace, a ring, a bracelet that symbolises you becoming that person as you step onto that stage – either figuratively or literally – is a really, really good thing to do. And, yeah, it kind of reinforced the whole alter ego thing. 

So, yeah, if you do this, please let me know, because I love hearing about other people's alter egos; I find it really fascinating. You can email me at info@traveltransformationcoach.com or you can DM me on Instagram @ traveltransformationcoach. I'd love to hear all about it. And if you do a Pinterest board, please show me the link to that, too… because I'm nosy, basically.

Okay, that's it for this episode. Thank you for listening, and until next time, I'll catch you on the flip side, bye! 

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