“I want to be a superhero when I grow up! I want to be a mother! I want to be a chef!”
What do all of these statements have in common?
First, they are all desires to become something, yes. However, they are also an image you have. When I mentioned superhero, mother, and chef, you undoubtedly had an internal concept of what those things were to you. Ask enough people, and you’ll find that many people have the same kind of image you have. Though the details may differ, the core is still the same.
These are archetypes.
Regardless of if you follow Freud, Jung, or any other theory, no one will disagree that archetypes exist and are useful. But they are better than just helping out in English class. You can use it to improve yourself as well.
I Want to Be a Better Person
Apply the same concept to this section’s title.
What is a better person? Can you imagine it?
Maybe you can, but the details might not be clear. Narrowing down the statement is the first step. For example, Robert. He is a 25-year-old male who loves fitness. He needs money and wants to open a physical training service. However, he doesn’t know anything about that. He can barely scrape by every month, and his life is falling apart.
He should create an archetype, then, of what a 25-year-old male who runs a successful physical training service looks like. This serves two purposes.
No comparisons: This archetype prevents our Robert from comparing himself to other successful people in or out of his field unnecessarily. He will, instead, look at a formless concept of what could be.
Specificity: Robert also gets a more accurate image of what he could be and, if done right, a set of daily/weekly/monthly actions that constitute a life that might be worth living. The archetype becomes the ideal and also the template for action.
Build your own Archetype
Everyone has archetypes for many things. However, these usually hide in the unconscious. This is fine most of the time, but they must be brought out to be useful.
First, think of what you’d like to achieve or become. A better person, a healthy person, a chef, a psychologist, a writer. Anything is fine, really. You simply need a clear term to name your archetype. Try using the “I want to be ~” template if you have trouble.
Second, describe yourself. Be general and use characteristics that many other people have. For example, Robert is 25. He is a male. He likes fitness. A lot of people fit into this category.
Third, put it together with what you want to become. “A 25-year-old man who likes fitness and wants to start a physical training service.” Already you have formed a very specific kind of definition that accurately describes you and can be used to search for similar people who will represent your ideal and have archetypal characteristics.
Fourth, research. Use your archetype title to find people who have already achieved what you have described. They can have one, some, or all of the characteristics you listed above. Find those people and make a list of what they do, did, and plan to do. Try to list the things that are similar across them rather than specifics.
Fifth. You now have a solid definition of your archetype. Any randomly selected individual who matches your archetype should also be doing roughly the same things as your archetype. This is the template you can use to start working towards your goal.
Results of a Broken Archetype
This is impossible to avoid entirely, so don’t get scared. When you fail to create an accurate archetype, you stray from a straight path and start going sideways.
You will slide along sideways until one of two things happens: you access yourself and see that you aren’t making progress in the right direction, or you give up because you never corrected yourself.
Bill is a great example. He wanted to be a YouTuber. He had watched thousands of hours of YouTube in his life and decided it was high time he gave back. He had an idea of what YouTubers did, so he started making lots of videos with high energy and the best video editing he could manage.
That’s what he thought being a YouTuber was all about. He never did his research to learn what REALLY went into being a YouTuber. Instead, he kept going until he quit because he never grew his channel.
His archetype was broken, consisting only of making and editing videos. It didn’t hold the additional parts of marketing, research, consistency, networking, or anything else. Because he never corrected his archetype, he completely fell apart in the end and gave up.
Long Story Short
Archetypes are useful tools for helping your journey towards a goal. You will make mistakes that need correcting. Of course, results will vary because an archetype is vague and without details. You will be the one to fill in those details on your journey.
These ideal images give an aim, a point of reference, and, if researched well, a template for actions that constitute a successful individual. Remember to take your time and always think for yourself.
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