Character study • The version of you that already exists (and how to step into it)
Let's play pretend until it's real.
Remember when we talked about archetypes?
How you can be mostly one thing but also a little bit of something else?
Because you’re human and messy and you contain multitudes. (If not, don’t worry, here’s a link to a refresher)
Good. Because that’s where the real work lives.
Look, nobody is a pure archetype.
You’re not just the Caretaker who gives until there’s nothing left, or just the Rebel who burns everything down on principle.
You’re the Caretaker who sometimes fantasises about telling everyone to fuck off. You’re the Rebel who secretly craves stability.
And that matters. Because the parts of you that don’t fit the dominant script? Those are often the parts that hold the key to your next evolution.
Think about it like this: if your main archetype is the role you’ve been playing to survive, then those other flavours—those contradictions—are whispers from the person you’re becoming.
They’re the dissonance that tells you something needs to shift.
Remember, your archetype isn’t who you are, it’s who you’ve been playing.
This section is where we consciously craft the next version of you, not as some kind of far fetched fantasy but a role that your brain can identify with and emotionally attach to.
Why does this matter?
Your brain is wired for pattern recognition and loves storytelling.
It’s always telling itself little stories like “you’re not good enough” or “you’ll never make it”.
Don’t tell me that you’re not creative because I bet your brain can come up with a million weird and wonderful reasons NOT to try something new.
When you give it a new character with a new story, it can feel weird at first, like digging a stream off an already flowing river. At first just a trickle of water comes through, but as you keep going more and more comes rushing through until you’ve got water running in a whole new direction.
I can keep going with water metaphors but instead let’s get to the narrative psychology and neuroscience part.
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