I love RPGs. Great stories, long game plays, immersive worlds; you name it, role-playing games usually have it. For this article, I want to focus on a key feature many of these games have: the Hero Item(s) for, well, your hero.

Ready for battle.

I work in an ad agency. Rightly or wrongly, it’s known as a cut-throat industry, full of personalities, hustlers, and the occasional shark. It’s not for the faint of heart, and eventually takes its toll on everyone.

It’s a war zone, and I have come to accept it. The language of this industry has long reflected that: we create campaigns, plan strategies in war rooms, identify target markets, and execute tactics. And in any war, virtual or otherwise, a player is at his best when equipped with his Hero Item.

The Hero Item is the legal ‘cheat code’; it unlocks special abilities and gives the exact edge a player needs to be ready and win a battle.

The world is not fair.

Our industry, like many others, is built on messages. “What message is our brand telling the world?” we ask. “What message do our audiences get with this campaign?” “Which message performs better during Christmas?” “Which messenger moves the most product off the shelves?”

I believe that these questions are also being asked of us, as people. Verbally or otherwise, there is a message about ourselves that is being understood by everyone else around us, the audience. I also believe that we can and should control what this message should be.

This is where the Hero Item comes into play.

My Hero Item is a beautiful, ‘true blue’ Ring Jacket blazer. My God – when I put this jacket on, I feel like a game character putting on a complete set of special armour. I kid you not, I feel like my “stat bar” jacked up. It’s almost… magic.

It makes me feel like I can own a room. It makes me feel like I pitch ten times better. I feel more eloquent. I feel like a million bucks, and that I can bring in a million bucks. I feel a ton more confident.

I know that it’s “all in the mind” and I’m sure psychology studies out there support this but that’s exactly the point: my Hero Item flips a magic switch in my brain that helps me create a better version of the message I’m already sending out to the world.

A more confident version.

In my world where there’s an occasional shark, I’d like to at least feel like a bigger shark.

What’s your Hero Item?

Hack Sheet:

• What message or perception do I want to send out? You and I are already doing this – it’s now a matter of being aware of what it is.
• How do I refine this message I’m sending out to the world? There is always a better way to tell a message, one that benefits the people around me, and me.
• What is that one Hero Item that makes me feel like a world-beater? It could be a jacket, a watch, a pair of lucky underwear. Find it, and use it for Big Battles!