Being a hero doesn’t have to be about saving the world, or Middle-earth, or the universe. The Hero’s Journey is symbolic. The stakes in the legends are incalculably high so the story grabs your interest, because an interesting story gets told over and over again. When the story gets handed down through the generations, then everyone gets the benefit of the clues embedded in the symbolism.
The Hero’s Journey is about the power of flow. Flow is the optimal state of human consciousness that delivers peak performance and wellbeing. In the flow state, all miracles feel possible. It is an ecstatic experience, which is why flow is also called “ecstasis.” In this ecstatic state, all of your talent instantaneously flows through your mind and body, through your decisions and actions, to deliver the complete expression of that talent. That’s what it means to be a hero.
The Wachowskis delivered this symbolism brilliantly in their film “The Matrix.” When Neo becomes the One, he sees the code in the Matrix, and he is no longer bound by the rules of the program. The universe seems to bend to his will, but “there is no spoon,” so he is actually bending to the will of the universe. His decisions and actions are completely aligned with his talent and his conscience, and in that state, he can perform at a level that exceeds anything he can deliver outside of flow.
The Hero’s Journey takes place on the “Road of Trials.” In hero movies, the Road of Trials takes the form of the “training montage.” The protagonist faces a variety of challenges that force them to develop the skills they need to get the results they want. In “The Matrix,” Neo’s Road of Trials literally begins with a leap of faith, and “Everyone falls the first time,” because the Road of Trials is actually the Road of Trial and Error.
By progressing along the Road of Trials, the protagonist develops the 12 skills they will need to become the hero: authenticity, courage, focus, clarity, accountability, discipline, sacrifice, community, faith, audacity, integrity, and flow. A hero doesn’t necessarily need to save the world, but they do need to make a meaningful contribution to the flourishing of their community, and that is best achieved through flow. That is what the hero does. They consistently orient their decisions, their days, and their life around integrity and flow in the face of overwhelming temptation and distraction.
Integrity is the precursor to flow. Flow is the reward for integrity. Integrity is the ability to align your decisions and actions with your conscience and your talent. Integrity is a skill that can be trained and mastered like any other. This skill is about making intentional decisions in the face of overwhelming temptation and distractions. Then, flow aligns your decisions and actions with your conscience and your talent when there is no time to think. Integrity is a skill that is developed over time. Flow eliminates time for your conscious experience, so it takes place outside of time.
The power of the hero is the power of flow. The power of flow is the power of integrity. The Adventure of Your Life is the daily struggle to embody integrity in the face of overwhelming temptation and distraction. Flow is the reward for your struggle, for your audacity, for your faith, for your integrity.
If you can live with integrity everyday, if you can live with flow everyday, why would you do anything else? When flow is the reward, the quest is worth the struggle and sacrifice. Each day is a new opportunity to learn more about your spirit and your integrity.
Faith. Audacity. Integrity. Own your decisions. Own your days. Own your destiny. Be the hero of your own journey.
Today is a good day to try.