Two years ago I started on a journey. I decided to re-launch my business at the very time many friends were letting go of their careers and retiring. But I’d discovered something that really called to me: through the use of story I could help friends, teams, and leaders connect more deeply to others and get their messages out.
Fast forward two years. It’s been a wild ride re-creating my work. Sometimes it’s exhilarating and I live with a huge sense of possibility. And sometimes it’s really hard.
Thank goodness for story. Even in those moments when I’ve asked myself, “will this ever work?”, I knew that I would persevere, because I was a choosing to live a story that I wanted to share with others. The heroic journey framework made a lot of sense as a framework for use, when I discovered that much of that story happens in the middle of the journey – when things are really rough.
Sure, the beginning of an heroic story, when the hero hears her call to action, can be sexy and intriguing. I love envisioning a bold future. The final climax and resolution, when the hero meets (or doesn’t meet) her goal and is transformed, can be thrilling and fulfilling. Or in my case, I hope it will be. But what about the parts of the journey where most of us live most of the time – the middle – what’s so exciting about that?
I wrote Lead with Your Legend: Craft Your Emerging Story to Live the Life You Want to honor the importance of the middle of the journey, and to show how each of us can live an heroic, legendary journey – if we choose to.
The middle of the journey is when the hero is confronted with challenge after challenge, setback, upset, disappointment, you name it. Inner gremlins and outer monsters. The works. Without the tension of having to overcome something, without risk, tension, and conflict, the hero’s story would be pretty boring and not heroic at all.
So, when you’re feeling lost on your path, you can still look for and claim its heroic essence. Knowing that you’re on a legendary journey can make it easier to welcome, or at least tolerate, the big challenges you never ask for. Even through the conflicts and disappointments, you can feel how your character is growing and being shaped by how you meet your challenges.
The person who moves forward with courage, authenticity and amazing perseverance in the face of sometimes overwhelming obstacles is what I call a legend.
My friend Lori is like that – I wrote about her a couple of weeks ago on this blog.
And I suspect you’re like that, too, which is why I’d like to gift you with my book.
The word legend may speak to you of pictures of celebrities, fame-seekers (Kim what’s her name?) and dead heroes. But I’m taking the word back and giving it to all of us, because it takes a lot of courage to live a life of authentic passion, and to recognize and follow your uniqueness, your calling, and the deep sense of longing that lives within you.
Lead with Your Legend shows how to apply the heroic journey framework to your personal leadership story, and use it to shape a story as you are living it, a story that’s emerging.
If you subscribe to my website, I’ve sent you a link to the book. If you haven’t signed up, you can do so here.
I hope that you look at it. It’s been a labor of love – part of my passion to acknowledge and support the people all around me who are living extraordinary lives, yet are sometime hidden or not even noticed.
They’re beacons of light to me. And as we go into this season of dark, I need all the light I can get!
Sally
P.S. Please let me know what you think. With your help, the book is going to continue to grow.
P.P.S. And please share it. If you haven’t received a code for your copy, or need it, just shoot me a message and I’ll fix that right away!