Everything that we do in life is a journey. It is in fact a hero’s journey. A journey of growth and learning on how to better ourselves by tackling the darkest aspects of ourselves. These can be fraught with dark moments of doubt and shame. But we must remember to hold strong to our dreams and know what are the essential characteristics that will allow the hero to vanquish the demons that lie before us on the road to a hero’s victory.
We can think of any task that lies before us as all part of the hero’s journey. Relationships work the same way we think of exams, and the same way we think of making money, these are a means to an end. These are tasks set before the hero to prove their worth on the road to his dreams. They are a currency that we use to reach our dream. They are the things that give us security and feed our egos but they aren’t our dreams. I have not heard of any person in their life saying, “when I grow up, I want to be a person that gets the best grades”. No, typically people dream of being a doctor or an architect or a fireman. These are of course arbitrary. The point is that they dream about becoming someone who does something of worth and provides something, whether it is their love, or something or service to the rest of the world.
When you define ‘why’ you want your dream, you elicit emotional responses deep in your physiology that will drive and motivate you with the joy you receive from your dreams to reach the person you want to be. So, who do you want to be when you grow up? Don’t think about the “how”, focus on the “what” and the “why”? What do you want to be? A doctor. Great! Why? A designer. Great! Why? A wonderful partner. Great! Why?
Your “why” will also give you an armour to protect you on this treacherous path. It will give you a resilience to keep on charging forward when you have taken a blow to your psyche and your dreams. Our love for a dream is what has every hero reach their goal, no matter what the challenge that falls before them. So give energy to define who you will be in your future and you will be able to reach whatever dream you have in your mind. The definition gives a context for why you are doing the things that precede the dream so that you can reach it. It means that when you are working on a relationship, studying, working hard to get a business started or putting in a big effort as an intern, you can use your passion for your dream to motivate you and understand that this is one step closer to becoming a reality.
Which leads me to the second part of the hero’s story. Once you understand your dream and have defined why you are taking the long journey to its gates, you then need to bring your head back from out of the clouds and focus back on your task. Whether you are studying, working, or paying your dues. You must give to the task with everything you’ve got, like this is the only step on your journey, and then you will take another step with the next task, class or client and you will give to that with everything you’ve got. Eventually, you will have taken the thousand-mile journey and walked the path one step at a time with integrity and grace. You will have learnt all that you need to prepare you to open the doors and walk through the gates of your dream.
The best thing about all of this is that originally you will begin your journey on the promise of the glory of your riches but ultimately the real treasure will have come from the journey you took to reach your dream rather than the dream itself. This is something to remember and hold in a prominent position in your mind because when you begin to feel overwhelmed by the task at hand, you can be thankful that you will overcome this obstacle, and when you do, reaching the ultimate goal will mean so much more than if it was given to you on a silver platter. So I ask that you enjoy the difficult times, remember why you are doing them to give them a context that motivates you. Give to the task at hand like it is the only task that you have to do and give to it with all your might, energy and love.
With these tools at your hand, you will be able to tackle any troubling times to reach any goal that you have and bring a new richness to any and every task that lies before you. You are the hero of your life and the only person that needs to believe in you… is you. Good LucK and Follow Your Bliss!
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