The Hero's Journey
The Hero’s Journey is Life’s Journey. The Journey can broken down into 12 steps in a universal framework that is used in all great stories. The Hero’s Journey is your Entrepreneur’s Journey. That’s right, you are the Hero but may not be aware of it. Most people refuse the call to adventure due to fear of the unknown. Most people delay their journey in many ways such as fear, doubt, worry, lack of values, procrastination, excuses, laziness.
Every journey begins with a call to adventure, a challenge or quest that presents itself to an ordinary person in the ordinary world. Initially, the person is afraid and refuses that call. But with guidance from a mentor, they overcome their fears, cross the threshold, and commit to the journey.
Along the way, they are tested, meet allies and enemies, and prepare for an ordeal; some kind of ordeal or difficulty that becomes their ultimate test. The ordeal forces them to face their worst fears and if they survive this, the ordinary person becomes a hero and is rewarded, usually with knowledge or insight.
The story doesn’t end with the reward. The journey is not over and hero must return to the ordinary world where the journey began, transformed by their experience. Finally, the reborn hero shares what they’ve learned on their journey with others to transform the ordinary world.
You are the hero on the entrepreneur’s journey.
A story isn’t a story without characters. Every story is all about change. Your story describes the change the main character (your customer) undergoes as a result of your brand.
Hero
the Hero is your dream client in the ordinary world who you call an adventurer to help them solve their problem and achieve their goal. After much resistance, the hero accepts your brand’s invitation and goes on a journey with your brand into your world. The hero is unfamiliar with this unknown world so your brand guides them with insights, wisdom, and tools that help them on their journey. The hero is trained, tested and acquires allies to overcome their problem/enemy. The hero faces their greatest fears in their final challenge. The hero successfully overcomes their fears through changing and is rewarded with what they were seeking for. The hero has changed as a result of their journey and returns to their ordinary world but it too has changed.
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
Guide
Your brand plays the role of the guide that provides motivation, insights and training to help the Hero overcome their doubts and fears as well as prepare the hero for the Journey. Usually the guide has been on the journey before so the guide’s purpose is to share wisdom and guidance with the hero entering the unknown. If the hero accepts the journey the guide may reward the hero with magical powers, a key, or advice that will help the hero on their journey. The guide may also present a magical gift to persuade the hero to accept the journey if the hero is very reluctant. Your brand exists to support the hero and help them transform their existing world.
A guide is wise and powerful and contains and uses that power for the good of all.
Conflict
The enemy challenges the hero by creating obstacles on the journey. The conflict can be an inner conflict or outer conflict or both. The hero must overcome their conflict if they are to be successful. The hero’s conflict may be their biggest problem or fear they are faced with. The guide has prepared the hero with training, experience, wisdom, and tools that give the hero the best chance to overcome the enemy but successfully overcoming the enemy is ultimately up to the hero. Overcoming the final challenge is what transforms the hero and they are rewarded with the victory, success, wisdom, power and a new perspective of life.
A conflict stands in the way of the Hero and their transformation, success, fulfilment, happiness and liberation
