Self-coaching tool: Hero’s Journey
How to be the hero (and the author) of your own story
TLDR
- Hero’s journey is a concept from the book by Joseph Campbell
- We know how creatives are using this framework in the media.
- You can use the Hero’s journey as a self-coaching tool
- Step 1. Apply the framework to map out your own journey from the current state to the desired state
- Step 2. Ask yourself self-coaching questions to gain clarity on each phase of your journey
- Step 3. Break down the phases into lists of small actionable steps and execute.
You are the Hero of this Journey
You’ve heard about the concept of the Hero’s Journey before and you already have multiple examples of how writers/directors are using it to create stories.
Harry Potter. Luke Skywalker. Peter Parker. Jesus. Frodo. Simba. Neo.
The list goes on.
They all went through a similar evolution that can be illustrated as follows:
Now, you can take this framework and apply it to your own journey.
We all have…
A call to adventure
You have a calling to execute some sort of action. It can be anything really. Ending a toxic relationship. Changing a job. Moving to another city/country. Starting a business. Writing a book that has been on your bucket list for years.
The journey starts when you make a decision.
A decision to answer the call.
Entering the unknown
If you executed the action eventually you will be “crossing the threshold” and entering new territory. A zone of discomfort. An area of not-experienced.
Through your actions, you learn. The unconscious (unknown) becomes conscious (experience).
You broke up with your partner. You start on a new career path. You find yourself on a new continent. Your startup is officially launched. You wrote the first chapter of your book.
Challenges and Temptations
The new world brings new experiences. New friends and allies. New enemies. New tests and ordeals.
Being alone. Being with new people. Learning the language. Looking at how to pay the bills. Impostor syndrome. Facing the shadow self.
You overcome adversity. It changes you. You are becoming something new.
Slaying the dragon
You face the “final boss” of the level. The Beast embodies your Deepest Fear within or without. You must kill the Beast. Maybe it is something you have never faced before. Maybe it is something you’ve been running away from all your life.
Death and rebirth
Once you kill the beast, everything is changed. You are not the same anymore. The Shift happens. You have become something different. A part of you dies. And you are reborn anew.
You come back to your village to share the story.
How to use The Hero’s Journey as a life coaching tool
1. Accept that you are on the journey.
Everything that you are experiencing right now is temporary. However challenging it might be right now, you are just in a phase of a journey. Regardless of the experience you find yourself having today, it is all meaningful and it has its power, you just might not be able to see it yet.
When we are IN a situation it is always very hard to think rationally because we only see things that are in front of us. We think short-term. The Hero’s journey helps you to map out your current season of life and see it more as a process rather than a singled-out event.
Use this tool to gain perspective.
2. Extrapolate your life onto the Hero’s journey.
Identify where you are in the cycle. What is your Call to Adventure? Are you refusing the call? Are you already in the unknown dealing with challenges and trepidations? What is happening now?
🐲 What is your dragon?
Is it the only beast that lives in the cave? What other fears do you have? Fear of being judged? Fear of failure? Fear of success? Fear of not being enough?
A coach can help you to process all of this. But if you are not working with a coach right now, do your best to process this yourself. Through writing.
3. Slaying the Dragon
❓ If you were to slay your dragon, what would it look like for you?
- Why is this important to you?
- What are the actions you need to take?
- How do you need to change your environment?
- What are the skills you need to acquire?
- How is this vision aligned with your Values?
- How is it aligned with your Beliefs?
You have to answer these questions. And no one can but you. Your mind. Your journey. Your rebirth.
4. What’s on the other side?
❓ You are back in your village. Reborn. Transformed. Victorious. What does this look like for you?
- What is the story that you will now be able to tell?
- How do you feel?
- Who would you become?
- How would this set you up for the next level/the next cycle of the journey?
Imagine what is on the other side.
5. What happens if you don’t slay your Dragon?
The vision of the desired future that you have right now is not yet a reality. It is a variation of reality that has the potential to happen but whether it WILL happen will depend on you taking action.
❓ What will happen if you don’t slay your Dragon?
- What if you don’t change your environment?
- What if you don’t take action?
- What if you don’t become the person you set your mind to become?
What will happen then?
Is your Hero’s Journey a nice fable that you are now telling yourself or is it an Action Plan?
You are on a Hero’s Journey every day…
Your journey is internal.
You wake up and your dragons are there. Waiting for you. They can hide in anything.
Showing up at work as a confident and authentic self. Speaking in public. Writing in public. Reaching out to people to generate new opportunities. Approaching a beautiful stranger. Building the body that matches your inner vision. Getting rich. Fixing broken relationships. Finding out who you really are.
One day this journey will come to an end…
One day you will be sitting and watching your last sunset looking back and reflecting on the story of your life.
❓ What do you want to be able to say about the Hero of that story?
Naval writes:
“Self-esteem is the reputation you have with yourself.”
What is the reputation that you are building?
What do you want to be able to tell yourself about yourself when the journey is over?
Here is a thought for you.
No one cared about you before you arrived here.
And no one will 3 generations after you are gone.
Is it scary?
Maybe.
But it is also powerfully liberating.
“You playing small does not serve the world”.
No one cares.
Live to the fullest.
Pick up the sword.
Embark on the journey.
Living a life devoted to self-actualization is hard.
It is supposed to be.
But isn’t it the only life worth living?
