The Hero's Journey: cross the threshold to begin your journey of a lifetime

Joseph Campbell and the mythological traditions he observed all over the world served as inspiration for the hero's journey, which is a potent framework for psychological development.

How does this relate to Black men in executive-level roles who are already earning a lot of money and have quite a bit of success and influence? Well, I’ll tell you.

Many times, brothers who get to this level of success are living for others. Living for the approval of their family. Living for the adoration of their children. Living to uphold an identity that they’ve crafted over a lifetime so they will stand in the minds of others as respectable.

However, when you decide to go on your own hero's journey in life, the very first step is going to be a “call to adventure.” The second step is going to be for you to cross the threshold into the unknown.

When the Spanish came to the Americas, they had previously thought that the world was flat and that they would fall off the edge of the earth if they went beyond the horizon. However, they received new information as European societies invested further in the sciences, as opposed to solely relying on the incredibly powerful philosophies and scriptures of the religious community.

And their explorers decided to go for it. They decided to venture into the unknown.

And because they did, they encountered many new civilizations in what later became known as the Americas. This “discovery” changed the course of human history forever.

Crossing a threshold in your life might have already included getting your advanced degree, getting married, having kids, and possibly becoming a corporate executive.

However, crossing psychological thresholds is significant because it leads to or represents a transformation of the individual and potentially impacts those around them. In terms of the hero’s journey, the ultimate goal is a personal transformation and discovery that can be positively used to impact your community.

However, moving into the unknown can be scary for anyone.

In a transformational process like coaching, you might have fears that if your coach lets you down somehow, you will be stuck in no man’s land, or worse. However, that’s where an experienced coach comes in, who knows the terrain of inner change and can safely walk you across the first threshold as well as the many others you will encounter as you identify the next evolution of who you are inside and leave the older version of you behind.

In this hero’s journey, the place in which you were leaving is likely a place where you have been living for others for so long, or from an old identity for so long, that you are possibly to the point where you’re now experiencing health problems, relationship problems, or you are on the verge of burnout.

If you feel like you have a calling in you, if you have a vision coming from your soul, if you know there’s more to life than what you’re experiencing now but just can’t put your finger on it, if you have gifts to give the world and won’t be satisfied until you do, then it's your inner self calling that wants to be freed. It’s the next evolution of you, waiting for the current version of you to dissolve away.

I’m here to tell you, as somebody who’s undergone this journey once, if not multiple times in my life, that the other side is sweet.

Beyond the money, increased status, and family leadership that are likely waiting for you on the other side of your own journey, there is something much deeper still. It’s a sense of satisfaction that you’ve reached your full potential. It’s knowing that anything is possible. It’s knowing that you’ve said “yes” to yourself and are now living without regrets.

That experience is priceless. It cannot be bought. It cannot be done for you. However, it will take others to guide you through.

Anyone else who’s interested in learning more about the hero's journey can check out Bill Moyers’ YouTube videos as he interviews Joseph Campbell about the hero's journey, and you can also read Greg Kimura’s poem called Cargo below that poetically describes the hero’s journey.

I wish your brothers well on their journey, and I’m happy to help them with it. Either way, I hope to see you on the other side.

Cargo

BY GREG KIMURA

You enter life a ship laden with meaning, purpose and gifts

sent to be delivered to a hungry world.

And as much as the world needs your cargo,

you need to give it away.

Everything depends on this.

But the world forgets its needs,

and you forget your mission,

and the ancestral maps used to guide you

have become faded scrawls on the parchment of dead Pharaohs.

The cargo weighs you heavy the longer it is held

and spoilage becomes a risk.

The ship sputters from port to port and at each you ask:

"Is this the way?"

But the way cannot be found without knowing the cargo,

and the cargo cannot be known without recognizing that there is a way,

and it is simply this:

You have gifts.

The world needs your gifts.

You must deliver them.

The world may not know it is starving,

but the hungry know,

and they will find you

when you discover your cargo

and start to give it away.

Jewel Edward Love, Jr., is the author of this newsletter. I am an executive coach for Black men in senior leadership roles. If you are a brother in an executive role (C-suite, svp, vp, senior director, or director) who would like to fully realize your professional potential, then reach out today for a consultation with me at the link below.

www.blackexecutivemen.com