An alter ego is, simply, a second self. A persona that gets adopted as an alternative personality.
What if the creation of this second identity could help you be more innovative, achieve a major goal, or overcome limitations?
Beyoncé was able to achieve massive success with (at least some) credit due to her alter ego. And she isn’t the only superstar to use this method. Athletes, performers, artists and more use alter egos.
Benefits of an Alter Ego
Most of us don’t have any stadium tours to prepare for. fair.
But, hear me out: tapping into the idea of an alter ego can still be helpful.
Taking on a new persona, or even some elements of a desired persona, can help you overcome personal limitations or self doubt, compartmentalize parts of your life to achieve better focus, or tap into your creative imagination.
- Kill Self Doubt Say you’re naturally introverted. You can create an alter ego that’s more outgoing and confident. They’ll become almost like your representative in social situations.
- Compartmentalize Listen, I know this will go against the “bring your whole, authentic self to work” jargon. Frankly, that does not work for everyone. Sometimes it’s helpful to separate your personal life and work life. If you have a demanding career, adopting an alter ego can help you compartmentalize any personal issues or home life concerns, allowing you to fully focus on your work.
- Unlock Creativity and Imagination By exploring a new identity or persona, you could find aspects and layers of yourself that bring rise to new and innovative ideas — a less extreme alternative to the Ayahuasca journey all the tech bros are trying to sell ya on lately. side eye.
Let’s look at some examples of well-known people and how they have used alter egos.
8 Well-Known People And Their Alter Egos
Beyoncé | Sasha Fierce Starting with Queen Bey.
To separate her own shy personality from her stage persona and give herself the courage to be free and while performing, Beyoncé created the persona ‘Sasha Fierce’. When Beyoncé performed on stage and transformed into Sasha Fierce, you could visibly see the changes happening. She split her Album “I Am” into two parts: one part showcasing her emotional and serious side, while the other features Sasha Fierce’s high fashion and no-holding-back confident personality.
Eventually she merged these two sides, saying:
“I killed off Sasha Fierce. I don’t need her anymore. I am Sasha Fierce.”
Powerful AF.
Kobe Bryant | Black Mamba Kobe had more than one alter ego, but “Black Mamba” has had unparelled reach. Kobe created the alter-ego as a means to separate his professional life from his personal in order to maintain on-court focus.
He happened upon the black mamba while watching Quentin Tarantino’s movie, “Kill Bill,” during which an assassin used a black mamba to kill another character and used it to cope with the assault case that almost derailed his career.
The “Mamba mentality,” became a mantra for the competitive spirit, and continues to be a source of inspiration for athletes, fans, and beyond.
Lady Gaga | Jo Calderone Jo Calderone is the male alter-ego of Lady Gaga. He was introduced in 2011 at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he gave a monologue.
Lady Gaga has described Calderone as a “mechanic” and “a man’s man.” He appeared in magazines and in the music video for Lady Gaga’s song “You and I,” as Gaga’s lover. And that video (wow, I just rewatched it) is so visually gritty and metaphorically rich, but Jo sitting on the piano while she is playing is an important moment. Jo as an alter ego allowed for an exploration of gender identity and fluidity in her music and allowed her to challenge traditional gender norms and push boundaries.
Nicki Minaj | Roman Zolanski Nicki takes her male alter ego even further.
Roman Zolanski has a distinct voice, and shows up in Nicki’s music. She describes him a “a crazy boy who lives in me and says the things that I can’t say. He was conceived in rage… and he bashes everyone.”
Roman has become known for his wild and unpredictable behavior. He speaks his mind without any regard for the consequences. The alter ego gives Nicki a chance to embody and speak from a kind of unhinged and male perspective.
Eminem | Slim Shady Eminem’s alter ego, Slim Shady, appeared right around 2000 and was essentially a conduit for expressing super controversial and provocative thoughts and emotions. Slim is violent. Deranged, a misogynist, a bully. He is not claimed as a representation of Eminim’s true self but rather, as Eminem describes it, a release valve for his innermost feelings and experiences.
David Bowie | Ziggy Stardust Jumping from rap straight into glam rock.
Ziggy Stardust is an alter ego created by musician David Bowie’s concept album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” That was released in 1972 -and still slaps.
The alter ego allowed Bowie to explore identity, fame, and self-expression. Ziggy is a flamboyant androgynous rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings, warning humanity of its impending destruction.
Ziggy dresses in colorful outfits, wears bright makeup, and has long, flowing hair and is brilliantly theatrical. The album tells the whole story of Ziggy’s rise to fame and eventual self-destruction. It’s also kind of wild to that the Ziggy Stardust alter ego became a a cultural icon in his own right, separate from Bowie, and influenced fashion and music and impacting pop culture from the 70s to today.
Hunter S Thompson | Raoul Duke Raoul Duke is an alter ego created by journalist and writer Hunter S. Thompson. The character of Duke is perhaps more closely defined as an author surrogate — a fictional representation of himself, the writer.
Through Duke, Thompson explores his own experiences and emotions in a more exaggerated and surreal way. Duke is often portrayed as a drug-addled, paranoid, and anarchic character.
He is a vehicle for Thompson’s commentary on politics, society, and the human condition. By using an author surrogate like Duke, Thompson blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Hunter S. Thompsons writing style pushed boundaries and had a grand impact on American literature and culture.
Marcel Duchamp | Rrose Sélavy Shifting into the art world with one of my favorite examples. Marcel Duchamp.
Widely regarded as the pioneer of conceptual art, Duchamp worked with Man Ray to create a female alter ego for himself in 1920. They came up with the name Rrose Sélavy. It’s a play on words, using the French pronunciation of “Eros, C’est la Vie,” which translates to “Love [or Sex], It is Life.”
Duchamp, as an artist, looked to challenge conventions, push cultural boundaries, and fundamentally redefine how we perceive art, the world, and our own identities. Through this creation of Rrose Sélavy, he aimed to deconstruct and reimagine established norms and invite audiences to question their assumptions about gender, identity, and the nature of artistic expression.
Picasso | The Mythical Minotaur The Mythical Minotaur is an alter ego used by artist Pablo Picasso and depicted in his art.
A Minotaur is a Greek Mythological creature that has the head of a bull and the body of a man. And this is the figure Picasso chose as symbol of his creative process and inner struggles.
In Picasso’s art, the Minotaur is portrayed as powerful and complex as well as a sexual and aggressive figure, reflecting Picasso’s fascination with some darker themes of human behavior.
Picasso’s use of the Minotaur as an alter ego reflects his own artistic process and a bit of the struggle to reconcile his personal life with his creative vision. The Minotaur allowed him to explore his own emotions and experiences in a more abstract and symbolic way. Picasso created some of the most iconic works of modern art in the process.
Is an Alter Ego for You?
The use of an alter ego can help people achieve their goals by separating personal limitations, boosting self-confidence and tapping into creativity. Beyoncé and Kobe Bryant are among famous personalities that used the technique to help them improve their performance. Others used the technique to express controversial thoughts, explore gender identity, and challenge traditional gender norms.
You don’t need to have Minotaur-esque desires or delusions of grandeur to use the method. And though they make great examples, the technique is not limited to celebs and artists, truly, and can be used by anyone to overcome self-doubt and achieve their goals.
Though these alter egos are more apparent within art, literature and music, I’m fully convinced that many successful people in the world of business are also using this method to tap into their full potential and unleash their hidden talents.
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