How to be the Hero of Your Own Life
Lisa Litherland
Acquiring Solar, Roofing, Electrical Businesses | Visionary Leader & Growth Catalyst | Building Legacies for a Cleaner, More Sustainable Future
Okay, I admit it. I love superheroes. The Marvel movies over the last 12 years. The DC multiverse on Netflix. I am by no means an expert. I didn’t read the comics as a kid, but I love the stories. And I love the sense of hope they inspire.
I was watching Supergirl over the weekend and heard this:
“We need to actively empower every single person to be the hero of their own life.” – Supergirl S6E20
WOW! I had to rewind and listen to that a couple of times right away. Powerful words.
It reminded me of the hero’s journey. Let me summarize in case you’re not familiar with the concept. The hero’s journey is a path used in storytelling with specific steps that our hero goes through. They start our living their ordinary life and get called to some adventure. They face trials and obstacles that culminate in one final challenge. They overcome that challenge and return to the ordinary world a changed and improved person.
We all face this journey throughout life. Sometimes it seems like we get to hang out in the “ordinary life” space for a while. Other times, it seems we face one battle after another, never getting a chance to return home to catch our breath. And some like to take on adventure after adventure, throwing themselves into the next challenge.
I’d love to hear from you about your journey. And how you overcame your obstacles and won that final battle. More on the next episode...
Driving innovation in Higher Education & R1 Research with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Computing
2 年This is a great article, Lisa Litherland, MBA! Sorry I’m just now seeing it. I couldn’t agree with this more. I don’t think I’ve thought of the journey I’ve been on over the past 2 years as a hero’s journey but it certainly has been transformational and it’s impacted every single aspect of my life: both personal and professional. I’m still in it, still learning and growing, but although many pieces of my life feel like they’ve fallen apart, many more feel like they’ve fallen together. I love reading empowering posts like this and being reminded that this journey is what we’re all here for, everyone is experiencing some iteration of the hero’s journey whether they realize it or not. The true challenge is finding the meaning behind it and being willing to let it change you. The night my brother died almost 2 years ago I remember telling my husband, “this is going to change me, it’s up to me whether it will change me for the better or for the worse so I’m going to try really hard to make sure it’s for the better.” I’ve let those words fuel my fire ever since.
Helping Talent Leaders Accelerate Organizational Goals | Data-Driven Workforce Planning, Predictive Analytics, Strategic Up-skilling
3 年Nice post and prompt Lisa! Nice... and terrifying all at once to actually ponder. So, here goes: I'm still figuring out how to step into the hero inside that has overcome some adversity including leaving a damaging marriage after 18 years with three kids under 16 with no real plan, facing a cancer diagnosis days after that (I'm fine now!) and moving house multiple times but keeping said kids in their schools/with as little disruption as possible all while bootstrapping a career that was put on hold to support family. I think superheroes are adept at reinvention and tenacity. I can confidently say I practice those traits but I'm not quite ready to claim the 'superhero' moniker. Yet. Soon... ?? #stillworkingonit
Adult Educator | Project and Program Manager | Learning & Development | Language Coach & Instructor
3 年Thank you for luring me into your article with a great story, photo and question! Lisa Litherland, MBA I have become my own superhero by pushing through my fear and striving to silence the voice of doubt and shame when things get hard. I have big dreams and continue trying to reach them while accepting failure as learning along the way. My superhero inside gets up again and again to keep going and learning and getting stronger.
Technical Program Manager | Program Management, Project Management, Process Improvement, Product Management
3 年Love your writing Lisa Litherland, MBA. Many battles, as we all do. One of them was when our oldest son was 18 and went to college. We went through a journey of making significant adjustments to a new reality presented to us. It is a normal or typical step, and it was hard, but I was able to make the necessary adjustments and came out a better person for that (and a better Dad). Getting some counsel was very much needed and very very helpful. :)
Proposal Team Leader and Certified Proposal Manager
3 年My story is personal, not business, life. When my kids were little, I was a very actively involved PTA mom who went to every Board of Ed, Town, Land Use meeting (in addition to PTA). I learned a lot, thanks to my business experience was able to articulate well, and accomplished a lot. My greatest accomplishment was a very nice note from the Superintendent of Schools saying that the children were losing a "great advocate". Advocate is a powerful word, and I'm so proud of earning that accolade.