I listened to a podcast recently: "Missing Olympics, Battling Retirement, Coaching Kids | Marina Spadoni (Ep. 7)" from Aquatic Sports Performance.
The podcast itself is really nice to listen to. We get to hear Marina's swim career, the ups and downs, what she felt during the journey, and so on.
In one part of the podcast, she mentions hitting a plateau in her swimming. She says that she started listening to an opera singer who felt the same way. The singer was stuck, not improving in her singing performances, feeling flat. To overcome this, she said she was trying to find her villain.
The journey of the artist is the hero's journey. But to overcome the hero's blind spots, you have to become the villain. When you become the villain, you unlock your true potential. This is what Marina was saying, and she aligned this mindset with herself as a pro swimmer.
Marina says the hero has juvenile motivation. It is like being 12 or 13 years old and saying you want to go to the Olympics. That motivation is juvenile at its core and can lead you only to a certain point. To improve further, you have to confront the villain in you. What weakness are you disguising as your virtue? What is causing shame in your process? You have to ask yourself these questions and find the answers.
For Marina, the weakness was fear of being perceived in a certain way. She wanted to work more, but she felt like others would think she was an asshole if she kept working even after practice was done. So the fear of being perceived as a shitty person was stopping her from doing extra work, even when she wanted to.
The villain should be a persona, she says, and you should be unashamed of anything. The hero's motivation might be pure, but the villain will do anything to achieve what she or he wants. The hero and the villain actually share the same goal and the same journey. For Marina, it is going to the Olympics. And in this journey, the villain says: I do not care what will stop me, I will do anything.
She says that she is starting to embrace this villain, and every time she puts on her cap she thinks she is becoming the villain. In this scenario, the villain is not evil. Think of it like this: do you think the Joker ever has an off day? Do you think he sleeps in and slacks? No.
This part of the podcast was really interesting to me. When I ask myself the same questions about my own journey, whether it is swimming or my job, I now ask myself these things:
- What am I ashamed of doing
- What is my weakness
- What is causing shame in my process
- What am I disguising as my virtue
The more I answer these questions, the more I can become the villain in my own journey.
I guess I disguise being low ego and low profile as a virtue. I show that as if it is a positive trait, but deep down I am ashamed that doing what I want might make others think I am egoistic, an asshole, or just weird in general. It could be a plyometric exercise in the gym, a unique drill in the swimming pool, or even being proud of a job well done. I do not do these things, or I avoid doing them when I am surrounded by people, because I fear how others will perceive me.
More thought can be put into this. But I think Marina highlights a really interesting topic. It makes us, at least me, realize that becoming the villain is exploring your weaknesses in your journey, which will lead you to your own goal.