Episode Summary:
I recently had a fascinating conversation about the Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell? It has been years since I really did anything with this, but I admit it is one of those concepts that has stuck with me. Just in case you haven’t heard about it, or need a refresher, it is a journey of struggle, triumph and transformation that we all go through. One where the hero overcomes incredible obstacles to become this amazing and inspirational person. It is a beautifully simplistic romantic story and one we all can relate to, especially on this entrepreneurial journey,
Simplicity IS unrealistic when building a life and business of your dreams, and yet it is a path we all still follow.
What I hope you take away from today's episode...
- There is no "one right way" to explore the dream
- Sometimes taking the route of strategy and exploration is what you need
- Sometimes you may want to dive in and learn by doing
- Both paths can lead to success or disaster, so it really comes down to choosing what's right for you.
- And most importantly... No one can choose the right path for you. Only YOU know what will work best!
Links to the cool stuff mentioned in this episode...
The Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell
Butterfly Goo: The Down and Dirty Truth of Transformation
Things Our Tired Brains Do That Sabotage Success
Links to connect with me...
Book a Consult HERE! (https://caffeinecreative.io/consult/)
Email me HERE! theperfectblendcaffeinecreative.io
Detailed Show Notes
I recently had a fascinating conversation about the Hero's Journey by Joseph Campbell? It has been years since I really did anything with this, but I admit it is one of those concepts that has stuck with me. Just in case you haven’t heard about it, or need a refresher, it is a journey of struggle, triumph and transformation that we all go through. One where the hero overcomes incredible obstacles to become this amazing and inspirational person. It is a beautifully simplistic romantic story and one we all can relate to, especially on this entrepreneurial journey,
but to quote the author Rachel Burr, from her book Butterfly Goo: The Down and Dirty Truth of Transformation…
Seriously Mr. Campbell?!
While I appreciate the tidy clarity of Mr. Campbell’s model, I challenge its simplicity. I mean, come on! Simplicity is unrealistic.
Simplicity IS unrealistic when building a life and business of your dreams, and yet it is a path we all still follow.
This journey isn’t an easy one and it rarely follows the fairy tale path, despite how hard we wish it would! There are no magical birds showing us the way, no yellow brook road laid out before us, and no wise mentor nodding approval in the corner as we find our way to greatness. It’s usually not simple and it's often really messy!
Most of the time we are by ourselves, stumbling along, questioning everything, and making things up as we go. There are days where we are flying high and jumping for joy, and other days that bring us to tears. Sometimes these days are one right after the other, or even crammed into the same 24 hours!
The journey of being an entrepreneur will challenge you in ways you can’t imagine and yet it is still a journey so many of us take. Why?
We want to believe in the entrepreneurial fairy tale.
We want to believe in dreams coming true and living happily ever after. We want the simplistic route outlined by Mr. Campbell all of those years ago and we are really good at convincing ourselves that things will be different for us.
It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or have been in business for years. This journey applies to us all, because there is no one magical moment when all of our dreams come true and life is nothing but the fairy tale moving forward.
- There are always new ideas that turn into dreams.
- Dreams worth exploring and pursuing.
- A pursuit that inevitably leads to struggle, doubt, fear along with triumph and success
So every time we come to the end of some version of our own hero's journey… we start on a new one. That is life my friends, and it's part of what makes the life we are living so very interesting, even when it gets messy.
Now let’s talk about those ideas we turn into dreams, and the ultimate question that so many of us ask at the beginning of this entrepreneurial journey…
Can I really get paid to do this?
Even if we are exploring a legitimate business that many others do successfully, we question if WE can get paid doing it, and this part of the journey.
I do want to share a side note… this journey is all about YOU. A lot of people are going to have ideas. If you act they will call you impulsive and doomed to fail, if you don’t act will say you're scared. People will question your timing saying you are moving too fast or too slow, and everyone is going to have an opinion on what your journey should be like. Remember this my friends… the path ahead is entirely up to YOU. Don’t let anyone else tell you how this should look. Only you know what is really right for you.
All new journeys start with one thing…
The beginning looks pretty much the same for all of us, we have an idea that begins to grow into a dream. This idea is centered around something we love doing, something that is intriguing, fascinating and all consuming. Something that challenges us in the best possible way, and really what entrepreneur doesn’t love a good challenge.
Sometimes we don’t realize we are already on the journey to building something new at this stage. I certainly didn’t. I started my web design business officially because it was something I could do. I never dreamed of becoming a web designer. In fact, I had vowed to leave the world of technology behind me when I left the corporate world to become a life coach.
But as I began doing the work, initially for my own business, I discovered that I loved learning all the ins and outs of web design. I loved discovering how simple things could have a really big impact when designed in a specific way, and how the power of words could be enhanced by the placement of them on the page.
I loved learning… trying things out… rethinking what others did… This part of the process was so much fun for me, that my idea of, “I will just build my own website…” began to grow into something much bigger, eventually becoming a dream to “fill the small business world with gorgeous websites.”
If you think back, or maybe if you are still in the beginning, you no doubt have a similar story to tell. Sure the front facing aspect of your story is different, you could be focused on biophilic interior design, or maybe you are launching a catering business, but beneath it all we are the same. We have an idea so good we just have to see where it takes us!
The idea begins growing into something bigger...
I can always tell when an idea is worth exploring because it becomes all consuming for me. Maybe you see this too. Rather than scrolling Instagram or checking out the latest “must haves” trending in the TikTok shop you would rather be looking into some aspect of the dream you are building. From exploring ideas, to researching “how”, even paying close attention to how others are making it happen. You are engrossed in this new idea and it is taking up a lot of space in your brain.
You may even whisper your idea to a trusted friend, to see what they think, or maybe you are like me and keep it quiet only sharing it on the pages of your journal. Either way you begin to wonder… “Can I actually get paid to do this?”
Testing the waters…
Some of us like to share that we took the leap and dove right in head first, and while I agree that there are a lot of us who move pretty quickly at this stage, myself included, we all actually start out with baby steps to test the waters.
For me it was taking on small little projects, just to see if this was something I could actually do.
My first “test project” was for my bestie Crystal, who back then was launching her career as a professional organizer. That project went pretty well, and Crystal was over the moon excited with what I had built, so she told her friend Betty, who then paid me to build her a website.
These little projects we take on in the beginning are so exciting. We are actually applying the knowledge we have been gathering and bringing something new and cool to life. Plus bonus… we are getting paid. (cha-ching noise)
This is when we begin to realize, we actually CAN get paid and we begin envisioning ourselves on the romantic path of the entrepreneurial journey. We imagine taking on bigger projects and higher paying clients. We are fully aware we are going to stumble and struggle a bit, but we have researched things thoroughly (so we think at least) and are prepared for anything that comes our way.
We see our success sky rocketing and begin to imagine the fame we will achieve, like seeing our work featured in a national magazine, or like me being invited to speak at a major conference. When I was on this journey as a life coach I actually dreamed of being on the Oprah show or one of her Super Soul Sunday episodes.
This is the fairy tale of the Hero's Journey, and we all have some version of it in our minds.
This fairy tale creates the illusion that our struggles are predictable. What we don’t see behind the curtain of illusion is that often the biggest struggle we face is making a decision about which path we are going to take, and on as we are on the entrepreneurial version of the Hero's Journey, as we have to decide pretty early on do we…
Plan, learn and dream longer…
Take the leap and dive in!
Before we can move forward. Both of these paths are well traveled so Robert Frost’s famous advice isn’t going to help us here. So we sit in indecision, rather than moving forward.
Whichever path you take…
In the romantic version of the entrepreneurial journey, there is only one clear path to take. You take the leap! Clearly only the bold who dive right in are destined to succeed, whereas the timid who focus on learning more and planning longer are destined to be stuck in the learning and planning forever never truly seeing their dreams come true.
I want to pause here for just a moment to share what I mean by the romantic journey. Most people think of love stories when hearing the word romantic, but there is actually an alternate meaning that fits perfectly here.
In the online version of the Oxford dictionary this alternate definition is…
ro·man·tic
/rōˈman(t)ik/
2. of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality.
Similar words and phrases include: idyllic, picturesque, fairy-tale, idealistic, idealized, starry-eyed optimistic
This is the romance I am referring to, and it fits pretty perfectly with this journey, because this is how we envision our road to success unfolding. A picturesque, fairy tale fueled by starry-eyed optimism.
Both paths can lead you to the same place…
On the first path we have the opportunity to be more thoughtful and can move forward a bit more cautiously. We may have had some initial success, but we don’t want to be too hasty. So we consider learning a bit more, doing a little more planning, and taking an up close look at timing so we aren’t overwhelmed. On this path we are being thoughtful and intentional about how we move forward.
On the second path we take the leap or as my old mentor used to say… we go for stupid. Okay not really stupid, although the naysayers probably think so. What we are really doing on this alternate path is ignoring what everyone else thinks and going for a big, ridiculous goal. While we are being thoughtful and intentional here as well, we are taking bold actions first and learning along the way.
Regardless of which path you take you will find success. You can also find disaster. And you are likely to find a healthy dose of both on the road to success.
Coming to this fork in the road isn’t the obstacle that keeps us stuck. It is choosing the path that is right for us that is the real struggle. So let’s take a closer look at each path, and hopefully gain a little clarity on which path is the right one for you right now.
The path of learning, planning and dreaming longer…
So many people in the entrepreneurial world call this the “safe” path that leads nowhere. They even shame those who want to take this path, telling them they are giving up on their dreams.
So I want to take a minute here to reframe it. First of all this is not the “safe” path. Safety is just an illusion after all. This path is based on exploration and strategy. It is the pause we spoke about in last week’s episode “Things Our Tired Brains Do That Sabotage Success”, not a procrastination.
Procrastination comes with a healthy dose of avoidance, and that isn’t what we are doing on this path. Again… we are exploring the possibilities.
This is the ‘let me think this through’ path and here is what it looks like…
- You’ve done a lot of research and learned quite a bit, but you still have more questions than confidence, so you look for new opportunities to expand your knowledge.
- You begin testing out different approaches to see how each works. You refine, test again and probably refine it some more and test again.
- As you test and explore you are building additional skills behind the scenes, skills you may not have even known you would need, but are grateful you are learning.
- You look closely at the process and determine what is going to work the best to reach the desired outcome for you and your clients. Basically you are bringing your A game!
- Financial responsibility is a must. You don’t want to just start throwing money at your idea, or take out a hefty loan. You want to make strategic decisions so profitability comes much sooner.
As I said a moment ago, many people watching what you are doing are going to think you are playing it safe and staying stuck in dreaming, but what they don’t see is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes, and there is a lot of success to be found along this path.
The Successes available on this path…
- By gaining additional knowledge and testing things out you are building a deeper sense of confidence that is rooted in competence and experience.
- Your processes and systems are going to be stronger from the beginning, and while you will tweak these as time goes on, there will be a lot less trial by fire.
- This is going to minimize stress and help you avoid mistakes more easily.
- Being more established in the beginning is also going to help you attract higher-quality clients more quickly and lead to better financial stability.
Where this path quietly turns on you… aka the potential disasters
While this isn’t the “safe” path it can quickly become the comfortable path, and definitely keep you stuck rather than moving forward with your dreams. Here are the ways this shows up…
- You find yourself in analysis paralysis looking at every choice you need to make from every possible angle without making any real decisions.
- Fearing you’re not "enough" yet, you can easily get caught up in the “eternal student” syndrome, always looking for the next class that will make it all click so you can finally get started.
- When you do finally decide you’ve learned enough (if that day ever comes) rather than stepping out and showing the world what you can do, you talk about education, training and credentials essentially hiding behind all of those rather than simply being yourself.
- You begin over-preparing for everything as a response to the fears building up inside of you
- And you keep waiting for permission to actually begin.
Essentially you are mistaking the comfort of learning and planning with clarity, thinking you are working towards your dreams when you are simply spinning your wheels and digging a deeper hole for yourself.
So are you exploring or simply stuck… let’s find out!
I have a few questions that I want you to answer to help you decide if you are in an actual stage of strategic exploration or hiding away in fear of following your dreams.
Are you learning because you are curious, or because you are afraid?
Common thoughts include…
Exploring… | Stuck… |
|---|---|
Wow that’s cool, I want to know more | I am not good enough yet |
I didn’t know I could do it that way! How does this work? | I don’t have any formal training, so… |
I love how [fill in a name] did this. How could I achieve something similar? | I am not as good as [fill in a name] |
I need to understand this well before I can sell it | I’ll just take one more course. Then I will probably be ready |
I want to make sure I can deliver well | Let me tweak my logo/website one more time before I launch |
If no one was around to judge you, would you launch right now?
Common thoughts include…
Exploring… | Stuck… |
|---|---|
I’m not quite ready to launch, but I am really close! | What if [my husband, mom, sister, etc] thinks this is ridiculous |
I’d like to try a soft launch to test my process | I’m not sure my family will take me seriously yet. |
I am setting up a peer group for honest feedback so when I launch I am doing it really well | I can’t put this out there until it’s perfect. |
I am creating a strategic timeline for launching | I’ll wait until life feels less chaotic. |
Is there a measurable milestone that tells me I’m ready?
Common thoughts include…
Exploring… | Stuck… |
|---|---|
When I complete this certification, I will launch | I’ll just “know” when I feel ready. |
When I finish building this offer, I’ll start selling it. | I need to feel 100% certain. |
The path to learning and planning is a powerful one, when it is intentional!
The key thing to remember if you feel this is the path for you is that learning and planning when done in a healthy way will build momentum. They will fuel your passion and inspire you to take bold actions.
The “bold” path of taking the BIG leap
So many in the entrepreneurial world declare this to be the “only real” path to take if you want your dreams to come true. Others, who do not have an entrepreneurial spirit will see this path as reckless. So again let’s start off by reframing this path along the road.
First it is not reckless. Some people are more prone to being decisive and taking action. I am one of those people. When I am exploring the idea of doing something new, I explore the options quickly, I learn what I need to know to get started, and then I dive in and see what happens. I find incredible clarity by doing things, and while I know I won’t always make the right decisions, I trust myself to make a decision and then make it right if things go awry.
As my husband would tell you, I am more of a hold my beer and watch this kind of girl… He on the other hand is much more deliberative in his approach. He looks at all the angles and weighs things out in his mind allowing ideas a lot of time to marinate before taking action. We both make good decisions and we both get to the same place in the end. We just take different paths.
This is the “build as you go” path, and here is what it looks like…
Those of us on this path do love learning, but we know that we learn best by doing. We typically don’t fear making mistakes, and know that each mistake brings with it new knowledge and clarity.
We see hands-on experience just as important if not more important than certifications and formal training.
We are willing to give it a go before we feel completely ready, because we know this is often the fastest way to achieve our goal and we don’t mind stumbling a bit.
We LOVE checklists, and quickly check off the list of things to do like setting up our website, building out our social media, and announcing “We are in Business!” The sooner these things are done the sooner we can focus on making money.
While we do care what some people think, we aren’t too concerned about public opinion in general and don’t mind “figuring things out” while others are watching.
Our confidence grows through action, not preparation. The more we do the more we learn and the more we learn the better we are. This formula works for us.
The Successes available on this path…
Those on this path tend to develop new skills quickly, and focus on mastering them by doing them over and over.
We have a strong resilience, and can handle what others perceive as failures a little better than most. In fact, we rarely see failure, just a lesson learned.
Those who dive in tend to start making money more quickly because we are willing to take on paying clients before we have everything figured out.
We learn to trust our instincts as we have to solve problems more than most, and we have to act quickly to make things right when things go awry.
We are better able to tolerate discomfort and push through the tough times without wanting to give up.
We gain clarity on what works and what doesn’t more quickly because of our trial by fire approach.
Where this path quietly turns on you… aka the potential disasters
On this “build as you go” path it is all too easy to confuse urgency with what actually matters, and we can spend a lot of time on things that don’t move the needle forward all that well if at all.
We struggle a bit keeping up with everything as we didn’t have any solid systems in place before we got started
We can easily mask our “impulsiveness” as courage and keep pushing forward even when it isn’t the best course of action for us.
We are more prone to saying yes to every opportunity and we can easily get swept up in the hustle culture making burn out is a very real concern.
When we make mistakes that are much more visible which can hurt our brand reputation and our own confidence
So are you actually taking bold decisive action or acting impulsively… let’s find out!
Are you launching because you trust yourself, or because you are trying to prove something?
Common thoughts include…
Taking BOLD action… | Acting IMPULSIVELY… |
|---|---|
I don’t know everything yet, but I know enough to start. | I don’t have things ready yet, but getting a paying customer will motivate me to get it done! |
I don’t need everyone to understand this decision. | I can’t stand the idea of someone thinking I hesitated |
I am ready to adapt if I need to. | I need this to work immediately. |
I don’t need to prove anything. I just want to build this. | I’ll show them! |
If this doesn’t succeed right away, will you adjust or collapse?
Common thoughts include…
Taking BOLD action… | Acting IMPULSIVELY… |
|---|---|
If it doesn’t work, I’ll redesign it. | If this doesn’t take off fast, maybe I’m not cut out for this. |
Failure is just an opportunity to learn and improve. | I’ve tied too much to this to let it fail. |
I’m playing the long game, and believe in myself. | If this stalls, I’ll probably abandon it. |
Are you building momentum, or creating chaos?
Common thoughts include…
Taking BOLD action… | Acting IMPULSIVELY… |
|---|---|
Things are moving quickly, and I like the results. | I’m busy all the time but unsure what’s working. |
My “yeses” are intentional. | I’ll say yes and figure it out later. |
My growth feels challenging but steady. | I’m juggling too much but can’t afford to stop. |
This “bold” path of taking the leap can be a lot of fun…
It can also be chaotic, exhausting and drain your time, money and energy really quickly. The key to success on this path is taking moments to pause and reflect. You can do this quickly, but do it. Your future self will thank you!
So which path feels right for you right now?
Each time you come to this fork in the road you have the opportunity to choose the path that fits today. While I am often the one to dive right in, I have also been known to take the path of planning and learning.
There really isn’t one “right way” we all have to follow, and if you choose a path that doesn’t feel right, make a choice and pivot. Because as I said earlier it is having this choice on which path to take that creates the obstacle that keeps us stuck. It is our failure to make a choice and move forward.
And that brings us to the end of this week’s episode of The Solo Grind. Thank you again for hanging out with me here today, and I look forward to connecting with you again next week when we take an up close and personal look at the things we should be considering early on as we begin building something new.
