Unlock Your Next Chapter, Pt. III - Your Hero's Journey
As I mentioned last article, if I could sum up the biggest lesson I’ve learned since leaving my corporate life behind, it’s this: The skills that make you successful in one chapter of your life are rarely the ones you rely on as you create the next one.
In the previous post, we looked at your origin story, in particular, the events that created your identity and your motivation for the choices you make and the life you live. Today, we’ll explore a common story format called the hero’s journey that you can utilize to unlock your next chapter.
I find this technique to be very powerful for clients and students. Because when you think about your experiences within the framework of the hero’s journey, you can visualize your life in a new way, with a focus on learning and growth. Reframing your life in this manner will help you discover everyday life adventures and help you feel your way forward. And the good news, no writing is required.
Let’s begin with a basic question: What is a hero’s journey? In the simplest terms, it’s a story template – a familiar format that has been used to create countless stories you love.
The format is always the same. The main character, or the hero, leaves her familiar world behind to go on an adventure, learns to navigate an unfamiliar world by facing challenges and learning a lesson, and then returns home transformed.
Here’s a basic outline of the hero’s journey framework. Of course, we need a hero – and that’s you! Then we need a journey. There are three stages: the departure, the initiation and the return:
Departure: You’re in a place where you’re living your life. You have a daily routine, family, friends, a career. And then there’s a disruption. Something interrupts your life flow. Maybe you have to make a tough decision or handle an unexpected event. It could even be a new goal or intention that feels too big for you but you find intriguing. There’s usually a period of doubt or hesitation because of the pull of your current, comfortable life is strong. But at some point, a wise teacher will cross your path. The teacher can take many forms, such as mentor, an elder or even a book. Someone or something will provide guidance and the tools you need for the journey.
Initiation: This is where you enter the unknown. You’ve agreed to cross the threshold from your ordinary life to a path of uncertainty, one that is pulling you forward. Along the way, you’ll be challenged. You may be tested, confronted or deterred, but there will also be allies along the way you’ll rely on for support, along with your wise mentor. And you’ll need the support because the heart of the journey is when you confront yourself by facing your fears or overcoming what feels like an insurmountable obstacle. But you persist, rise to the challenge, succeed and celebrate.
Return: You are a changed person as your journey continues in your daily life. You’ve integrated your learnings and are stronger for the experience. You find ways to share what you’ve gained with those in your world.
While blockbuster Hollywood movies and best-selling books use this format, such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, it happens in our lives all the time. Think of the journeys you’ve taken when faced with a major life change, such as graduating from school, getting married, having a child, getting promoted, or changing careers – all hero’s journeys.
Here’s an actual example of how you can experience a hero’s journey while being firmly entrenched in your everyday life.
Toward the end of my corporate career, I felt a pull to explore ultra-endurance sports. It started with a multi-day cycling event that covered more than 100 miles a day, which took about 15 months of preparation and training. The following year, I set my sights to run an ultra-marathon, involving a 5-month training plan to get ready.
Let’s put this scenario through the hero’s journey stages.
Departure: I’m in my mid-50s and in a good place. I worked hard to get to the point in my life that I’m enjoying. And yet, there’s this pull to explore athletic pursuits that make no sense. I hadn’t been on a bike in 20 years and I had never run more than 17 miles, which happened in my 40s when I got lost on a trail. So I wrestled with periods of doubt – why would I want to interrupt my perfectly happy life to commit to these events? But then, the wise teachers appeared. It was a work colleague for the cycling challenge and a book that inspired the ultra-marathon.
Initiation: I entered the unknown when I committed to each event, because once I say “Yes,” I’m all in. I will find a way to complete what I commit to do. In doing so, I agreed to cross the threshold into new experiences. And I was challenged and tested at every turn. For the cycling event, it was more mental. Just getting back on a bike showed me how much had changed. It took time to adjust to riding for miles at a time. I had to overcome the fear of “clipping in” – where my cycling shoes were actually connected to my bike, which scares me to this day. And yes, I did fall as I learned. The challenges for running were more physical and involved not only putting in the miles, but learning how to fuel my body during long runs and care for my muscles, ligaments and joints. But yes, I did face my cycling fears and what seemed like insurmountable obstacles in running for 50 kilometers. In the end, I got to celebrate seven 100+ mile days on the bike, a marathon distance training run, and a completed 50k ultra-marathon.
Return: Did these experiences change me? You bet they did. I came out of both events stronger mentally, emotionally and physically. I learned how to develop a comprehensive plan, compassionately adjust as I gained more knowledge, and see it through to the end. And it gave me perspective that I could apply to other situations in my personal and professional life. When faced with a challenge, I could compare it to a new level of what was possible for me. A few years later when I considered leaving corporate life behind, I had newfound confidence because I had recent evidence of what I could do when I set my mind to it. Lastly, shifting my focus to the wellness industry, I could find ways to share what I learned, which I did with my first book, The Athena Principles.
I share this specific example so you can see that although sometimes profound life changes are necessary as a catalyst for the journey, you can also experience it, as I have, as a complement to your current life. At the time of the hero’s journeys I outlined, I was working full-time and traveling as part of my job while attending to personal responsibilities of family and friends. There was no need to leave everything behind to climb the distant mountain. In a way, I brought the mountain to me.
Now that you know a little about the hero’s journey, you may be asking yourself, “Why? Why would someone who is happy and comfortable in their life put themselves through this?”
The short answer is: I don’t know what sparked my interest. There were tens of thousands of employees at my firm, yet only 162 signed up for the biking challenge and a small percentage of them trained and finished the event.
Same thing for the ultra. Thousands of people probably read the same memoir I did, yet as I read it, something deep inside came alive and I became curious. “Could I do that? What would that feel like? How would I go about it?” Those were the questions that tumbled in my brain and would not leave me alone.
The calling is a mystery and I can only tell you that it happens. But here’s what fascinates me – What makes us choose to answer a call?
I can tell you why I answered the calls I told you about, and it has to do with the challenge element of the journey. In literary terms, it’s called the ordeal. It’s the part of the journey where the hero realizes she must become someone different to meet the challenge. It’s the point of growth.
When I accepted my calls, I wasn’t aware of this. But here’s the question that I carried throughout: “Who will I be on the other side of this?” It was the curiosity of the impact these experiences would have on me that fueled me throughout grueling training sessions. And it’s what fuels me to this day when I face a new challenge – like deciding it was time to leave my corporate life behind and start my own entrepreneurial adventure. That’s my current hero’s journey. And it still engages and motivates me each day.
How about you? How you can use what we’ve covered so far in this series to uncover your hero’s journey? How can you use the lists you created of seeds of discontentment and glimmers of contentment from the exercise in the first article? Those lists hold important clues because the hero’s journey can sometimes begin when discomfort becomes unmanageable and a change is needed or you had a taste of contentment and want more.
Both can be journey motivators. But you may be in the doubt or hesitation aspect of the departure phase. So it’s good to explore those lists and see if you can identify a starting point for your hero’s journey.
You also looked at motivating factors in your backstory from the last article, using some reflection questions along with a suggestion to look at people you find inspiring and why. This is fertile ground to explore and uncover what may be calling to you.
Take a look at what you’ve done to this point in the series and identify a call to action that intrigues you. It can be something small, like starting a writing practice or running a local 5k race. Or it can be something much bigger, like tackling a lifelong dream. Choose what’s calling to you and in the next article, we’ll find ways to put it into action.
Until then, I hope you enjoy working with these questions and exercises. These sparks are leading you to unlocking your next chapter.
Journal Reflections: What elements of the hero’s journey intrigue you? What has been your biggest hero’s journey experience to date? What is calling you to a new journey?
Note: If you prefer, you can listen to this article here: Episode 243
If you have any questions or comments about this series, please do reach out by email at hello@athenawellness.com. I’ll be sure to receive it.