Previously, we’ve talked about going from the ordinary world to crossing the threshold into true leadership: meeting your internal guide and mentor, and recognizing and accepting that there are going to be tests and enemies along the way and that sometimes the enemy is you. Hopefully, you know by now that you are also your own best ally. In the last post, I invited you to go deeper, look into your background, and ask yourself some questions about your beliefs and the reasons you operate the way you do.To spell out the change you want to see and make in the world. If you took action, you made a list of your values, core beliefs, and purpose and you developed the backstory for your main character, the hero, you.
In this section, we’re talking about the reward you get when you do the real work and build the right habits to remain in the hero role as your plot unfolds in your everyday life.
The ultimate reward is that of self-empowerment and living an honest life that’s in tune with your true nature and desires. Earning this reward means that you’re going to operate from a place of self-integrity, always. Throughout your life you’ll be able to recognize how you’re contributing to the outcomes (positively and negatively). You’ll also know that you have the solution with you, always. Your reward is self-leadership — so you can be the change you want to see in your life, in your organization, in your community, and in the world.
On this lifelong journey of moving toward your ultimate prize, you need to be equipped with the right tools to get everything you want. You need to be aware enough to continuously discover the things that feel most true for you. To gain this reward, and to keep it, means to put the past in the past. To recognize and accept that you don’t have to be the person you have been since before you crossed the threshold. You can leave the ordinary world behind because you know that maybe, just maybe, there’s more. Spoiler alert: there is.
When I first started my career, I went wherever the wind blew. I didn’t have any other reference point to understand the course ahead. I just kept showing up and doing what I was told and, at times, finding my own way to improve my processes and workflow. This was all fine; my career wasn’t my priority. I was just a wandering soul in the ordinary world.
When I started working my way up in the chain of command, priorities started to shift. There was one self-appointed goal. Get to the top (whatever that meant). Do work, get better, be the best in my division, get promotions, get paid. Win (at the made-up game in my mind).
When I made my first career transition, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing next. No backup plan. With that job title, my identity was handed over too. I didn’t know who I was outside of work.
And so, the journey began. I needed to discover what type of work I liked to do and what I was actually good at. I kept asking myself those questions and continued inching closer to what felt really right for me. I’m not sure if I’d be where I am today — doing what I love and enjoying the process — if I didn’t go on that journey, cross the threshold, and meet a few hundred tests and enemies along the way. But I kept pressing forward and going deeper into my innermost cave. I can recount dozens of pivots I’ve made in this exploration. And I’ve continued to follow my internal guidance, often at the expense of risking everything that was familiar in the ordinary world. Now I’m here. Living what I believe to be my true purpose: helping people operate from their purpose by understanding the process. Maybe this is my hero’s sequel, trilogy, or pentalogy, and the ever-evolving script may lead me somewhere else in the future, who knows, but what I do know is that I am guided by self-leadership, as that is truly the ultimate reward.
In the ordinary world, people float through life, blame things around them, and feel stuck, disempowered, and like a victim of their circumstances. But true heroes, the self-leadership type, are the people that change their environment by changing themselves. That’s the reward. Shift yourself and watch the world around you shift. That is my definition of success. You get to be your own hero even when it feels like no one else is saving you. Especially when it feels like no one else is saving you. If, within this process, you find your own process and reap the ultimate reward, you’ll have the tools to carry you through life as a master of self-leadership.
When you practice asking yourself the deeper questions and you listen with curiosity, you get the answers. Some call this prayer, some call it self-reflection or listening to their mentor, and some call it being the hero of their own journey. Whatever it is, it’s magic. The magic elixir you’ve been searching for.
This reward doesn’t come unless you take action. Imagine yourself, ninety days from now, waking up every morning focused on a bigger mission (your own mission) that ties directly to your unique interests and energizes you to be your best self. Do you think you might feel more fulfilled? Do you think you might inspire others in the future to live out their self-leadership mission? What would that look like five years from now? Do you think you can commit to following this process for ninety days? Can you truly commit so that you equip yourself to find your own process of self-leadership and reach your five-year vision? And have these tools for the rest of your life? If you’re all in to come out victorious with the reward, you’ll need to envision what the future looks and feels like so you know when you’ve obtained it.
Take Action: In your notebook, write out how your hero feels five years from now. Where are they? What does a day in the life look like? Who are they with? What does it feel like? What accomplishments have they made? What is their ultimate reward?
Example: My hero wakes up every morning with her purpose on her mind. She allows all that unfolds during the day to be guided by that purpose. She sees how everything relates to that purpose. She understands that if she operates from her values and in integrity with core beliefs, she can make an impact on others by remaining consistent. Her actions match her words. Everyone around her feels comfortable to be themselves. She is comfortable and at peace with herself. She is a living example of the hero’s journey. Because she understands the process, she knows that everyone is in one of these ten stages on their own journey. She’s no longer at war with herself and her surroundings. She knows she’s the artist and creator of her own life. She gets to write the script. She’s got the ultimate reward — the peace of self-leadership — and is driven daily by her purpose.