Make It Make Sense
Everyone is looking for answers that make the world make sense. The problem is: no one’s asking any questions. “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
There are two questions that have motivated all of my significant life decisions, and have given meaning to my actions.
What’s the most effective strategy for living a life of meaning and fulfillment that contributes to human flourishing?
Since the flow state is the optimal state of human consciousness that delivers peak performance and wellbeing, why would you devote your time and attention to anything else?
As far as I can tell, when someone says “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” these are the implicit questions that they want answered. The problem is: they haven’t find the words to articulate the questions. Hell, it took me the better part of four decades to articulate the questions, and the questions have been motivating me since I was a child.
To me, they seemed the most obvious questions. I couldn’t articulate them, because I was a child, but I could feel them. That feeling really flourished anytime I watched a hero story.
When you’re young, adults say “You’ll understand when you’re older.” I thought that meant they would explain it when I was older. It didn’t. I literally mean that I thought that, when I became an adult, the other adults would teach me the most effective strategy for living a life of meaning, fulfillment, and contribution, and that strategy would be based on accessing the flow state. Boy, was I wrong. And, boy, did that make me furious.
It took about a decade and a half of villainy for me to calm down and make the decision to figure it out for myself. Then another decade and a half to articulate the questions and find some answers. The irony is: they were right in front of me the whole time. Joseph Campbell said “Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life,” and he was right. Campbell identified an archetypal narrative pattern that he called “The Hero’s Journey.” Hero myths and legends from all over the world and throughout the ages follow this pattern. “The Odyssey,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars,” and “Harry Potter” are all examples of stories patterned after the Hero’s Journey.
The reason that the Hero’s Journey has inspired generations through the millennia and generated billions of dollars in global box offices is that it contains clues for understanding human nature, human potential, and for developing an effective strategy for living. Here’s the thing: I can’t just give you the answers. No one can “just give you the answers,” because your answers are different from my answers. You already have your answers. It’s the questions that matter. It’s the questions that allow you to unveil your answers.
Do you want to live a life of meaning and fulfillment that contributes to human flourishing?
What’s the most effective strategy for living that life?
Since the flow state is the optimal state of human consciousness that delivers peak performance and wellbeing, why would you devote your time and attention to anything else?
Who are you, and what do you want to do about it?
What do you do that gives you access to flow?
What is the loss that must be avoided at all costs?
What’s the biggest, most important problem you can solve with your talent? And what’s your plan to solve it?
If you didn’t solve that problem, what would happen to you? What would happen to the people you love?
If you were only allowed to devote your time and attention to one mission, which mission would you choose?
If you were prevented from devoting any time and attention to that mission, what would happen to you?
Your conscience is the voice that calls on you to become your most authentic, most courageous, most extraordinary self, and calls you out when you fall short. Do you want to be your most authentic, most courageous, most extraordinary self? Then why would you follow any voice other than your conscience?
It is an inescapable aspect of human nature that you will sacrifice everything for your highest priority. What does your conscience tell you is your highest priority?
Your conscience emanates from your talent, and points in the direction of your talent’s optimal expression. What does your talent’s optimal expression look like?
The Hero’s Journey is the story of an ordinary protagonist who becomes an extraordinary hero by finding their unique answers to these questions. That’s how “Myths contain clues to the spiritual potentialities of human life.” The heroes of myths and legends teach us about human nature and the dynamics of conscience, flow, and wellbeing. The stories have been so popular for so long because they show us what’s possible. The dragon, the princess, and the fate of the world are all symbols. You don’t need to save the world to be a hero, you just need to follow your conscience in the direction of peak performance and wellbeing. You just need to look for your answers to those essential questions.