I love how Mr. Sandefer explained the great Paradox of a Hero’s Journey of Entrepreneurship. He said, “The hero’s journey is all about you, but it’s not about you at all!” Now, that IS a great paradox and doesn’t seem to make any sense, but as you continue watching you learn what he’s saying.
Choosing a hero’s journey is something we all can do. I believe I have done it recently myself. I hope you all have a chance to learn about and pursue your own hero’s journey. You are probably thinking, “What the heck is a hero’s journey?” GREAT QUESTION!
To choose a hero’s journey means:
- Live every moment of your life like it mattered, because it does.
- Live as if you have an important mission, because you do!
- Look at struggles as adventures and setbacks as lessons. For example: Sir Lancelot and the Grail or Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. What matters isn’t the prize at the end, but how the hero is changed in the process!!
ISN’T THAT GREAT?????? Doesn’t that make you stop and think about who you are, what path you are on, and what path you WANT to be on? It sure did me! I want to be on the hero’s journey. I want my life to matter. I want to be remembered as someone who did something good in the world. I want to let my light shine, not hide under a bushel.
A fascinating bit of trivia from Mr. Sandefer. He said that all 60+ year aged people who were interviewed by the Acton students about their triumphs and regrets, as well as life’s lessons they wished they had learned earlier, said basically the same three questions were all that mattered at the end of their life. Those questions are:
1. Have I contributed something meaningful?
2. Am I a good person?
3. Who did I love and who loved me?
That’s it. That’s all they cared about as the came toward the end of their mortal sojourn here on earth. They didn’t care about how much money they made or how famous they were. All they cared about were: Have I contributed something meaningful, am I a good person, and whom did I love and who loved me? That is ALL they were concerned with. So, maybe, just maybe, those are the very same things we should all be concerned about? Food for thought!
I am grateful Mr. Sandefer didn’t just leave us hanging with those questions. Instead, he gave the secret to each one.
1. The secret to unlocking the question “Have I contributed something meaningful” is to never give up your search for a calling. What is a “calling?” A calling, according to Mr. Sandefer, “is that special mission where you can find your greatest God-given gifts and use them in a way that brings you great joy, satisfying a deep, burning need in the world.” He suggests we all need to find a calling that fits our special gifts. We can do that by asking 5 people who know us well, pressing for specifics, examples, and evidence, the following question: “What do I do better than anyone else in the world?” Mr. Sandefer said you would be surprised at how consistent the answers will be. He also said you will be surprised because “your gift will be something you assumed was easy because it is easy, for you.” I hope my friends or family are ready for this because I’m getting ready to ask! Without getting too much further into all the details, he closed by saying the most important part of a calling is it MUST serve others and it MUST matter to you.
2. The secret to unlocking the question “Was I a good person?” is that we must all set clear, ethical guardrails and make it easy to stay within them. He suggested we write a list of all our “I Will Not’s,” our moral boundaries we will never cross under any circumstances. Then, anticipate those moments when you will cross one of these moral boundaries and take it as a signal to stop and reflect and reevaluate the path you are on. One method to help yourself stay on track is to write your future self a letter for each one of the “I Will Not’s” and place it in an envelope labeled for that “I Will Not” and place it in your top desk drawer so that at the moment of greatest temptation you can hear a better voice! BRILLIANT!!! I love this idea!!! Financial success can bring on great PRIDE and that can bring terrible consequences when you cross one of those “I Will Not” guardrails!
3. The secret to “Who did I love and who loved me?” is simple…”choose your fellow travelers well, for it is a trip you only take once.” It is of vital importance that we surround ourselves by people of character because you will come to be like the people who surround you! SO, CHOOSE WISELY!!
So, going back to the great paradox from the beginning “It’s not about you, it’s all about you.” It’s not about your happiness. You will have more setbacks and battles because the stakes will be higher, but you’ll fight those battles and be more satisfied and fulfilled because you will have made a difference! It’s all about you because using your gifts to change the world will change you in the process and make you realize you serve a force and universe that is far bigger than you are.
I loved this video so much. Mr. Sandefer closes by asking this: “Do you have the courage to take the first step on the hero’s journey and will you take it today? If you don’t choose a hero’s journey then who will and if not now, then when?” I choose a hero’s journey. Time to get to work!
I am grateful beyond words, for this video. As you can guess, I pretty much wrote down 95% of the video because everything seemed important, like it applied to my life and me. I’ve read a lot this week on Mastery and the E-Myth Revisited and even in the book Return by Elder Hales, but the biggest impact this week was this 22-minute video. It has changed me. I want to look back in 10-20 years and ask those very same questions, (have I contributed something meaningful, am I a good person, and who did I love and who loved me) and find the answers to be something positive. I want to watch my funeral from above and see lots of people who are sad that I am gone because I meant something to them; I made a difference in their lives.
So, let’s get out there. Let’s move forward. Let us make the world a better place. We are in the last days prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. I want to make sure I am living a life of meaning so when He comes He will know me as His disciple. When I die, I want to hear the words found in the Book of Matthew in the New Testament: “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
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