Pick Your Character

What do Eren Yeager and Mirdoriya Izuku have in common?

Vanessa Van Edwards said that one of her favorite ways to get to know someone is by asking them the character that they closest-identify themselves with. She indicated that it is important to not make this assessment by looks but purely by who you resonate with. 

She then went on to detail how her single-mom friend identified with Katniss Everdeen and how she never would have guessed that. She would have presumed she would resonate with a motherly character, not one fighting for their life. 

This took place during a podcast with Steven Bartlett on his YouTube channel, The Diary of a CEO, and segued into a section of that podcast centering on how this question is wonderful because you gain insight into how differently people view themselves from how you view them. 

So now I bring us back - can you guess what Eren and Midoriya have in common?

Well, aside from being the protagonists in their respective anime (Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia are two of my favorites and -  if you have never watched anime - I’d highly encourage them as starting points), they are characters that I resonate with. 

Spoiler alert It’s not because of Eren’s ability to see the past, present, and future while being arguably the best titan - nor is it because of Midoriya getting bestowed the strongest power in his respective show. 

That would just be conceited of me - come on. 

It’s because they pursue what they want, no matter how outrageous it is and they protect their people along the way. Not only do they protect the people that are closest to them - but they expand their impact across their respective worlds. 

Each character has their flaws but I respect the commitment to achieving what they want in life and their commitment to serving others. 

Part of my long-term vision is impacting as many people as I can. 

This started by pursuing a career in finance - pivoting from that to becoming a manager to impact and serving those that work under me. This is evolving again and I am now actively pursuing much larger goals so I can impact not only them but you. 

This commitment to service started when I was young. I want to say it was unintentional and it was - in part. My first service was in elementary school acting as a peer counselor, helping manage and resolve conflict between my peers. This evolved in middle school to participating in leadership clubs and introducing kids to our school and acting as a peer mentor. 

This accidentally continued into high school when my friend Mallery asked me to apply with her to be a Student Ambassador. 

I didn’t really know what this meant but I did it and got in. In this program, we educated our high school, area middle schools, and even a juvenile detention center on sexual assault and sexual harassment (age appropriate presentations, of course). 

We also mentored kids at elementary schools and led suicide prevention presentations in our high school. I genuinely enjoyed being in service of others and acting as an advocate to help mitigate severe issues that are pervasive in our society. 

When I got into college, I accidentally got into another leadership club based on my high school experience that resulted in me getting a minor in Leadership Studies. This was more of a study of different leadership styles but we still served and volunteered throughout the curriculum and through this I stumbled into yet another opportunity to serve through working for the Pueblo Rape Crisis Services. 

Side note - they do an event called Walk a Mile in Her Shoes which is pretty powerful. 

It was a small office but I loved their mission and was happy to be a part of it. Part of my job was reaching out to local communities and giving presentations at juvenile detention centers. I loved doing this as the kids in these juvenile detention centers were so engaged and genuinely wanted to be present and learn. Many of them being from at-risk populations within their communities - I could see the impact I was having and it was so fun watching them connect the dots on various points in my presentations. 

I was also on call for a suicide hotline and to respond to an area hospital when victims of rape were admitted to the facility. I only received one call on the suicide hotline and responded to two rape victims at the hospital in the few times that I was on call but I was grateful to have the opportunity to support people at some of their most vulnerable moments in life. 

While I have had formal opportunities to be in service to others, I have always liked being there for people. 

For you. 

As I transitioned from college to the work-force, I lost a bit of my identity in the transition. 

I had been accustomed to serving others being an option but for some reason doing the extra curricular volunteer work felt mundane and my desire to do it outside of work was even lower. 

I had gotten into my industry to serve others but didn’t feel like I was doing an acceptable job at this. 

This - and a conversation with my boss at the time - helped me shift my focus to leadership. I wanted to see my impact beyond a fleeting conversation. 

While I love the impact that I am able to have, I still feel caged. Limited by the size of my teams and the number of hours that I am willing to commit to working for others - I have a maximum if I can’t see myself doing something forever and working for someone else forever is close to my worst case scenario. 

Thus, I am pushing myself to maximize my time outside of work to create content - to try to post stuff that is meaningful to other people. If I can create enough value - it will spread. I will be able to help more and more people - and maybe just maybe - I’ll get to be like Midoriya and realize my dream of impacting as many people as I can. 

While I don’t intend to be so relentless I cause a rumbling and destroy the world in its wake - I have a strong desire to contribute to others and will push myself - sacrificing trivial stuff along the way to do this. 

I’m not perfect - I don’t have iron will like these characters, I haven’t refined my work ethic to the point of breaking my fingers over and over and over again for the sake of competing and showing the world what I am made of but I’m working on it. 

Have I convinced you to watch the shows yet?

All jokes aside, I found this to be a really compelling question as I was walking around the gym, getting my steps in between sets, and wanted to share it with you.

My goal here isn’t just to get you to watch these shows - though, truthfully, you should. It’s to share a part of me and, perhaps, inspire you to dig deeper into the stories of those around you.

Vanessa Van Edwards believes this character question is a powerful tool for truly understanding someone, helping you break through the surface and see their inner workings.

So, next time you’re with a friend, on a date, or with your partner, ask them this question. Ask them what character they most closely resonate with from any movie or show.

The answer might surprise you—and it might just deepen your connection more than you ever could have expected.