Your Business Journey: Embarking on the Hero’s Journey
Every business owner understands that the path to success is filled with challenges, setbacks, and triumphs. It’s a journey that parallels the timeless narrative structure known as “the hero’s journey.” Popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell, this narrative framework outlines archetypal stages found in myths and stories across cultures and time.
Think Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, just to name a few. It describes the protagonist’s transformative adventure, overcoming obstacles, and emerging as a changed individual. In this post, we’ll explore how a business’s journey mirrors the hero’s journey while highlighting similarities and lessons we can draw from both narratives.
The Call to Adventure
The hero’s journey begins when the protagonist receives a call to embark on a quest. Similarly, business owners often experience a moment of inspiration or opportunity that urges them to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. This initial call to adventure may manifest as a new idea, a market gap, or the desire to make a difference in the world through their product or service.
Crossing the Threshold
After accepting the call to adventure, heroes cross the threshold from their familiar world into the “unknown.” For business owners, this moment occurs when they take the leap, leaving their comfort zones, and launching their venture.
Crossing the threshold often entails facing uncertainty, assuming risks, and embracing the possibility of failure. It is a pivotal step that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary.
Trials and Challenges
Heroes encounter numerous trials and challenges along their journey, testing their mettle and character. Likewise, small businesses face obstacles that demand resourcefulness, perseverance, and adaptability. These hurdles may include competition, financial constraints, operational mishaps, or market fluctuations.
Overcoming these challenges shapes the business’s resilience, encourages innovation, and hones the skills of its founders and employees.
Mentors and Allies
Who is your Yoda? Your Dumbledore? Your Fellowship?
In both narratives—real-world business and fictional stories-–mentors and allies play a crucial role in guiding the hero’s progress. Business owners often seek advice and support from mentors, industry experts, or fellow entrepreneurs who have navigated similar paths.
These guides can provide wisdom, experience, and encouragement, acting as a guiding light during times of uncertainty. As hard as we may try, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish everything on our own. Remember, it is always okay to ask for help.
The Abyss and Transformation
In the hero’s journey, the protagonist faces a critical moment known as “the abyss.” It is a make-or-break situation that tests their resolve and pushes them to their limits. For small businesses, the abyss may come in the form of a major setback, a financial crisis, or a significant market shift.
It’s during this challenging period that transformative changes occur. Successful businesses learn from their mistakes, adapt their strategies, and emerge stronger, reinvented, and ready to conquer new frontiers. It’s common for this pattern to play out repeatedly over the course of your business journey. Where there are trials and challenges, there is growth and transformation.
The Return and Elixir
After conquering the abyss, heroes return to their ordinary world, bringing back a valuable gift or elixir. This gift represents the lessons learned, newfound wisdom, and the value they can offer to society. Similarly, successful businesses return to their markets armed with a unique proposition, an innovative solution, or a better understanding of their customers. They become agents of change, elevating industries, creating jobs, and contributing to the community.
The hero’s journey and the path of a business share striking similarities. Are you feeling stuck with your business? Perhaps you are in need of mentors or allies? Or maybe you need a little push to cross the threshold and bring your idea to life?
Try using “the hero’s journey” as a blueprint for developing your business. Recognizing the parallels between these two narratives can inspire and empower business owners to view their journey as an epic quest, embracing the inevitable challenges as opportunities for growth and transformation. By persisting through adversity, they can emerge as heroes in their own right, leaving a lasting impact on their industries and communities.
“You are the hero of your own journey.”
–Joseph Campbell
WRITTEN BY: SARAH BLACK
