The hero’s journey

Do you recognise it?

The call to adventure Crossing the threshold The road of trials Abyss Metamorphosis The ultimate boon The returning boon Conclusion + sign off - Applied to business

Understanding this concept created such a useful leap forward in my thinking. Why? Because so much great storytelling is connected to this concept. And once you know it, you’ll spot it in tons of places. Think Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the Rings, Toy Story, Back to the Future. When you think about these stories they follow the arc of The Hero’s Journey - a universal device Joseph Campbell explained in The Hero with A Thousand Faces. As human meaning seekers we’re attracted to heroism. And the cool thing about heroes... they’re not born. They’re made...

Under pressure 💎 in a furnace 🔥 on an expedition.🚶🏽‍♂️

Myths about the hero’s journey:

Better comes after improvement (nope, you have the resilience to face harder stuff) It’s an uphill hike (nope, more like mountain ranges, valleys and peaks) People will come with you (they will - but probably not the people you’d expect)

Your call to adventure is tough. But more than how hard it is, the call is irresistibly compelling. Once you know the call - it’s the key that unlocks something distinctive and powerful about who you fundamentally are. What you stand for. What you want to say. It’s coming to terms with the more authentic version of who you’re designed to be.

That kind of journey is treacherous and life changing. Mainly because once you start, it’s hard to turn back on.