My Hero's Journey: Chapter 3

  

  This week was an intriguing peek into the world of my personal code of conduct and ethics.  It’s something that I’ve considered before, but not as intensely.  I would like to elaborate on one point that I made during the construction of my code of conduct.

  I will never change my values to make life convenient for myself or for society.

  Growing up, I encountered various situations in which my personal values were challenged, both internally and externally.  There was intense pressure to buckle, to bend to the whims of others, but I always took a weird sense of satisfaction in proving myself and others wrong.  Especially others.  It wasn’t like I was trying to be a little rebel.  It just sort of burst forth from some deep inner essence known as “strong will”, and hasn’t let up since.  

  When I was 13/14 years of age, the girls around me changed.  They stopped playing with Barbies.  They ceased running with inflamed passion to the monkey bars at the playground.  No, they became obsessed with other, more grown-up pursuits.  Makeup.  Boyfriends.  The works.  

  Well, I would have none of it.  They pressed and they prodded, but I refused to try a dab of lipstick or gossip about the cute boys.  My independence shone brilliantly, and I was proud of it.  It wasn’t like I wanted to be different for the sake of it.  I simply was different, and the effects of that sort of seeped into my interactions with others until it had a life of its own.  

  Pretty soon, I became known as the “weird girl who didn’t wear makeup or date”, but I was okay with that.  I didn’t bend under the pressure, and that was all that mattered.  There’s a quote I’ve read that has always stuck with me.  “You were born an original.  Don’t die a copy.”  I’ve lived by that ever since.  

My Hero's Journey: Chapter 2

  Well, this course sure has proven to be a journey worth taking.  Maybe that’s a little premature, being the second week, but I can tell a good thing when I see it.  I’ve especially found a fondness for The Ministry of Business.  I’ve read four chapters (I was only supposed to read three this week), but I couldn’t help myself.  All the principles and lessons it discusses resonate with me, particularly The Formula in chapter 4.  This formula for success is based on three simple components.

1. Get Your Education.  We must constantly be on the search for wisdom from all sources, whether it be formal classrooms or informal, real-world experiences.  Education is our toolbox companion.  It gives us the confidence needed to be successful.

2. Make Your Mark.  We need to make a positive difference wherever we live and in every career we pursue.

3. Get Prepared To Be Of Service.  Here is the key to eternal success.  It’s through service and contributing, not material wealth, that gives us the truest sense of happiness.  

  These are such simple words to live by, but I feel the truth of it, the power, the strength, the potential that living by them would enable me with.  The Formula is one of many paths to achieve happiness and fulfillment, but it seems to be among the better ones.  I’m excited to take this knowledge and not only become a better person, but maybe, just maybe, use them in my entrepreneurial endeavors, if that’s what my future holds.

  It seems to me that Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams because, as a child, he was allowed full-range to explore his talents and make discoveries.  He even wrote equations on his bedrooms walls!  Instead of grumbling of the resale value of the house, his parents let him find himself through his own means.  

  Dreams are among the most important things in life.  Why?  Consider the alternative.  Hopelessness.  As Charlie Chaplin said, “Despair is a narcotic.  It lulls the mind into indifference.”  You could say despair is a strong term, too dramatic, too polar opposite of dreams.  If so, then consider the middle ground between dreams and despair: the mundane.  Yes, it’s livable, but it’s not abundant with life.  It doesn’t overflow with vigor or burst with vivaciousness.  That may be acceptable to some people, but it isn’t to me.  Dreams are the stars that, if bright and powerful enough, form the constellations that define our lives.  Yes, dreams are important.  They are more important that anyone could ever explain.   

  There are several childhood dreams I could choose from, but my most precious one is the dream to be a published author.  This particular desire first blossomed in my mind at around thirteen years of age, so it’s perched on the edge of childhood, but to me, it still counts.  I can achieve this dream.  I will achieve this dream.  I’m nearly finished with the first draft of a YA novel I’ve been working on for the past several years.  I will write its ending soon, and the rewrites will entail soon after, and then, it will be finished.  Well, as finished as it can be.  There’s still the journey of discovering an agent and navigating the publishing world, but I trust that I can accomplish my dream.  It may take months or years, but someday, there it will sit, resting beautifully on the bookshelves of bookstores across the country.

  Today’s dream.

  Tomorrow’s reality.

My Hero's Journey: Chapter 1

  I started this morning not knowing what to expect when I started my business journey with my first class on entrepreneurship.  The word itself has always piqued my interest.  What comes to mind when I think entrepreneur?  Creative.  Innovative.  Hard-Working.  Insightful.  Problem-solver.  Strategic.  Idea-generator.  These are all concepts that I identify with.  The question I’m left with, however, is: how do I combine these values into the powerful force known as an entrepreneur?

  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this course is the path to discovering the answer to such a question.  I believe that there are two key components to entrepreneurship.  First, the internal journey that leads one to becoming the hero of their own story.  And second, the real-world knowledge of how to actually start a business.  Luckily, this course focuses on the first component.

  I’m thrilled to start this hero’s journey, to discover my quest, find my companions, face my weaknesses, and ultimately, be a better person at the end of it, or perhaps, because of it.  I’ve been writing a book for the past few years, and during that time I’ve studied Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, in order to better grasp my character’s development.  In the larger scheme, I, too, am on the path of my own hero’s journey, whether or not I recognize it at times.  This course is like a side quest that I hope, over time, will integrate itself into the over-arching plot of my life.  

  Only time will tell, and I’m excited to see what it says.