In the last couple of months, I have taken an interest in the work of Joseph Campbell author of the book "The Hero With A Thousand Faces". His basic premise is that all myths through the ages share a common structure that can be characterised as a Hero's Adventure.

The hero is called to journey from their known world across a threshold into another world of discovery, tests, trials, allies, enemies, ordeal, death and rebirth, claiming rewards and returning with gifts to contribute to the world they left.

These patterns have formed the basis of some of the most successful books, movies and video games because it resonate with us so deeply, even if we cannot explain why.

Star Wars is one of the most successful film franchises ever and its creator George Lucas attributed its success to the Hero's Journey framework he modelled it on. I will link in the comments the interviews with Joseph Campbell filmed on George's ranch.

Life is a journey of a thousand moments and beyond; that you are on. Recognising the part you are playing, where you are at in the journey and what to do next, will have an impact on how you experience your life.

After several days of training in the framework, I began to see how I had been on such a journey transitioning from Tech to Life Coaching. The framework aligns wonderfully with the four pillars of TransFLOWmation I use in my coaching approach to support leaders in transitioning to a place of greater contribution and impact.

This series will be a poetic reflection on the framework, the power of myths and how we can leverage this understanding to transform our experience of this precious life we have been given and create from FLOW while achieving greater impact in our world.

This framework is also the one chosen by SPARK Inside to introduce young men in prison to coaching and support them in making a successful transition out of the criminal system into a life of positive contribution. I am excited to be working with them and can't wait to help deliver this program once the vetting process is complete.

SPARK Inside is a great charity, bringing the power of coaching to where it can make such a great difference, I'll link them in the comments if you would like to find out how you can support their work.

Stay tuned! We are going on an EPIC journey together that could change your life as it did mine!

**********

The journey

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

What is a journey?

If not for the first step

Then the next one

Don't omit to pause

Take in the wonder

As long as you

Keep finding a reason

To take the next one

That's a journey you are on

**********

Joseph Campbell & The Power Of Myth (All 6 Interviews)

From <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLlxL4kNMgA>

Support SPARK Inside

From <https://www.sparkinside.org/support-us>

In part one of the series, we established that we are all on a journey. Here we explore what makes this a Hero's journey, especially when you don't feel like one.

You are the central character in Your life. As the Hero, you get to make decisions and take actions that result in the outcomes that shape where you end up. It is possible to abdicate this responsibility to others, which is also a choice.

There is a hidden comfort in the narrative that life is happening to you and you have no choice but to tag along for the ride, but you are still the one paying the high price for how that is playing out.

I was making a decent living in project management, it represented my comfort zone. But I knew it was not my deepest passion. I wanted to work with people and support them in living to the highest of their expression.

There were many unknowns, but until I took the step, I would not know what was possible for me. I had to decide that it was time for me to start that journey, no one could do that for me.

Our brain is wired for safety, the 'unknown' registers as potential danger, so we experience discomfort as a survival signal to be weary of what lies ahead. It is a "proceed with caution", not necessarily a signal to stay with the status quo.

My invitation here is to make a conscious choice not to sleepwalk through life but to choose the path that leads to your deepest mission. Take up the mantle as the hero in your own story.

An EPIC adventure awaits!

**********

Growth Edges

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

How do you get new perspectives

Standing in the same place?

How do you discover new territory

Leaving existing boundaries intact?

New discoveries lie

Down the path less travelled

Prepare for the discomfort

Navigating the overgrowth

Soon to be trodden underfoot

Others following

Do you need a Nudge?

**********

Sleep Walking

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Sleepwalking, just kept walking

As time after time, I keep slumping

Life’s day-to-day needs navigating

Sudden thud and I’m sleepwalking no more

Pieces of me in crisis sprawled across the floor

Awake to what passed me by

The dreams left behind

In places long forgotten

Gasping for air in space confined

Seeking release with Keys stuck

Under piles of hats not long been juggled

Sands draining, not much remaining

What say you start living

Awake from sleepwalking

To live the life, eyes wide open

No longer unconscious but breathing

Smelling the roses, basking in the light

Savouring the moments

Where magic happens

Living alive feeling and thriving

Memories made, no longer retracting

**********

Reflect on an instance where you decided to take up the Hero's mantle in your circumstance

*********

n part two of the series, there was an invitation to pick up the Hero's mantle as the central character in your own journey. Here we consider the terrain where the journey is taking place.

The quote below is from the Charlie Mackesy book, "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse"

"Isn't it odd, We can only see our outsides, but nearly everything happens on the inside?"

This a very astute observation that is worth paying attention to. Every product of human innovation first began as an idea, our direction of travel as a decision and our actions as intentions. Our sense of what is possible is subject to our self-image and self-belief. All of these are negotiated and held internally before they are expressed externally.

My first attempt at living the life of my dreams as a personal development coach did not go well. I was on the brink of financial bankruptcy when the universe finally caught my attention.

The journey within for me took the form of journalling my experiences and thoughts about them. The writing helped surface the subconscious thoughts driving my actions under the radar of my conscious(logical) mind.

This process of reflective practice helped me realise that my motivation to achieve external trapping of success, was to validate my sense of self-worth. When I recognised that I was already enough and nothing out there was going to change that.

I came at life, living from the energy of a successful person in the process of manifesting. This resulted in greater impact and the avoidance of burnout.

Start your EPIC hero's journey in the terrain of the mind!

**********

The Inside Eye

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

The seeing part of me

Sees all there is to see

Comes from inside of me

Let's me see outside of me

The mystery of it is this

Without it my eyes can't see

**********

Wet thoughts

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Like water to fish

Unaware it exists

Being all there is

So thought is

Being unaware

Precludes you not

From getting wet

**********

What reflective practice has worked for you?

*********

In part three of the series, we established it was best to start the journey with a reflective practice like journaling. Here we will explore how to create a SPACEious environment for the journey.

The benefit of having a reflective practice is to gain clarity on what thoughts are influencing your actions thereby determining your outcomes.

The mind rarely likes to be present, it is either lost in the past with regret or fixated on future imagined travesty, which often triggers our survival instincts which is not optimal for creative and expansive thinking.

In my case, the constant deluge of thoughts was not helpful or aligned with my stated outcome.

It was very demotivating until I made the following critical distinction.

You are not your mind! You are the one being aware of it!

(Read Micheal Singer's Untethered Soul - Link below)

This recognition will transform your life, opening the door to a better relationship with your mind and a more productive experience of life.

I developed the SPACE framework to help my clients see this distinction and also help them reset their thinking when it is not serving them.

[S]ee Your True Essence - you are not your mind you are the one aware of it

[P]resent To The Source Of Confusion - Your mind is trying to keep you safe but can get confused with reality and imagination

[A]scend The Thinking - Don't fight your thoughts, just choose to stay connected to the part of you that is aware of it

[C]onnect To The Present - Become conscious of your breath to reset your thinking and become centred in the present moment

[E]xperience access to your Flow - When fully present your nervous system can reset and access better thinking

Using this framework helped me stay present and recognise when the mind was not serving me and gave me a way to reset and access a more helpful state for thriving with full access to my creative resources (See link to learn more in the comment section).

It did wonders for my mental well-being while allowing me to access greater clarity regarding how best to respond to what was in front of me.

Be present and get your EPIC hero's journey on the best footing!

**********

Clinging

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Clinging to memories

Of times no longer here

Clinging to stories

With no facts to bear

Clinging to the image

Of an identity unclear

Clinging for dear life

In utter despair

Clinging to thought

Porous as air

Clinging desperately

Touching then grasping

To what was never there

A mirage, an illusion

Energy in motion

Better spent flying

Than grasping thin air

**********

Quiet time

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Quiet around me

Quiet inside me

Quiet about me

Now I can turn

To what is here

To serve me

**********

How do you bring yourself back to the present moment when your current thinking is not helpful?

*********

SPACE framework for how to develop a better relationship with your mind

https://www.thecalmself.com/space/posts

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Untethered-Soul-Journey-Beyond-Yourself/dp/1572245379

In part four of the series, we introduced the SPACE framework (scroll up) to support creating a better relationship with your mind and access to more creative mental states. Here we return to the Hero's journey from the known into the unknown.

Your hero's journey starts from where you are today, the "ordinary" world that you have gotten to know over time. Here you are comfortable. At some point, you will get the call to venture into the "special" world currently unknown to you. This can feel scary and uncomfortable.

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" - H. P. Lovecraft

We as human beings have survived as a species because our brain is a highly specialised organ whose highest priority is to keep us safe.

It takes its cue from the hunter-gatherer days when the greatest danger was being attacked by wild animals that you did not see coming. It is better to avoid and be safe than venture and become something else's lunch.

That which is known can be handled and there is data to back up your chances of surviving it. The unknown, however, is a different matter and presents more of a concern. This is why our default is to consider worst-case scenarios.

Discomfort is therefore the emotional signal from the mind to at best avoid or at worst approach with caution any situation that is yet unknown.

I experienced this when I was contemplating switching from a job in Tech to coaching. I soon was lost in the land of "what ifs". Curiously enough all the considered scenarios were negative.

Our brain is constantly recalibrating the boundaries of our known and unknown world.

That which feels familiar now was once unfamiliar and that is the fate that awaits the unknown world we are contemplating now.

This progression of expanding our comfort zone is what growth is all about.

Don't fear your EPIC hero's journey, it is your chance to grow!

**********

Human design

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Sat on the couch

I waited and waited

When will they grow

Muscles that bulge

Make knees weaken

The horse now puzzled

By the cart before it

Turns out nature expands

Based on increasing demands

Time to venture

Out of the comfort zone

Yes you can wait

And then wait some more

Bigger muscles come

From stretching these

To the point where

Only new ones will do

At the junction

Where means, motive

And opportunity meet

There is the chance

For the capacity to grow

That is the wisdom

Of human design

**********

What growth opportunity are you currently facing?

*********

In part five of the series (scroll up), we explored navigating the discomfort of going from your known to the unknown world while embracing the opportunity for growth. Here we introduce the call to adventure. "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style." - Maya Angelou Most of us keep ourselves busy enough in our ordinary world, hiding from having to confront the deeper knowing that we are here to thrive not merely survive. In those rare quiet moments, we become aware of that "knowing" feeling that there is more to our lives than we are currently experiencing. This is the voice of adventure, calling us out of our comfort zone into the unknown. We are surrounded by opportunities to learn something new, try something new and create a larger impact in the world. The starting point is to become aware and get clear about the journey we are on. In which area of your life have you become comfortable but recognise there are opportunities to grow and expand? Personal growth/Spirituality/Emotions/meaning Financial Wellbeing Health and Fitness Family Relationships/Friendship Career/mission/business/education Recreation/hobbies/fun/Creativity/Self-expression Social Contribution/Community Involvement/Social Connections Make SPACE to get relaxed and quiet while contemplating these areas of your life. Where do you hear a call to adventure? Write these down, then choose one to focus on. While on the SPARK Inside Hero's Journey training, I identified that I was on a journey in the area of my mission to help leaders transition from work that they do just to pay the bills to work that fuels their passion and aligns with their deeper purpose. My call to adventure was to create an experience where these leaders can: Gain clarity on what their deepest purpose is. Connect to why it matters so much to live it. Assemble their dream team to support them in getting there. And Take the first step to creating that future. Identify the EPIC hero's journey you are on! ********** Hiding By Frank Bolaji Irawo Ever tried hiding from yourself? It maybe this or that It may be here or there But you dare not look It's going no where You run and carry it with you You welcome distraction Guess what's waiting when you are done The parts of you waiting to be heard The parts of you wanting to be seen The parts of you wanting their stories told The parts of you yearning to be accepted The parts of you that make up the whole The parts of you waiting to be welcomed home ********** The soul knows By Frank Bolaji Irawo The soul knows What it seeks It lets me know By feelings within When the soul sings ********** What does your call to adventure looks like? *********

Fulfil Your Deepest Purpose - Mastermind Taster Experience - Click here to find out more

In part six of the series (scroll up), you were invited to identify in which area of your life there was a call to adventure. The next step is deciding to accept or refuse the call.

“The future is called ‘perhaps’, which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the important thing is not to allow that to scare you.” – Tennessee Williams

Once you recognise the opportunity to grow in the chosen area of your life, you are confronted with the decision to accept or refuse that call.

Acceptance looks like doing any necessary research and taking positive action that moves you in the direction of your chosen outcome and refusal can look like inactivity or taking actions that move you even further away from it.

If you identify that you are refusing the call, the invitation here is to become conscious about it without making yourself wrong.

We are wired to fear the unknown as a protective mechanism. The unease stems from concerns about the perceived risks of acceptance.

Risks are there to be managed and discomfort does not represent a clear message not to proceed but rather to be cautious if you decide to do so.

The best strategy is to get curious about what your mind is concerned about, name it, define it and mitigate it where feasible if you have inner peace about it.

There is also value in building a view of all the positive possibilities that exist from accepting the call till it feels like a no-brainer.

Reflect on scenarios where things go better than expected what that would make possible for you?

My call to adventure was to create a Mastermind taster experience for leaders looking to transition to living a life aligned with their deepest purpose (see link in comments for more information).

My way of refusing the call was by finding creative ways to procrastinate, and reeling out a list of things that I needed to do first before I was ready.

Through the help of some good coaching questions; I identified that I was concerned about low attendance resulting in financial loss and bruising to my ego.

We changed the target audience, came up with a staged commitment process and refined the focus of what the event would deliver. My energy was recharged and I was ready to answer the call.

How can you supercharge your motivation to accept the call to your EPIC hero's journey?

**********

Fearless

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Fearlessness is not overcoming fear

Like in a fight or a war

It is not being afraid of fear either

And insisting that it disappear

It is about knowing its true nature

Appreciating its true intentions

Acknowledging genuine concerns

Holding love closer than it

While taking the very next step

Fearing no less while staying true

To serve what is flowing from you

**********

How have you overcome your fears in the past?

*********

Fulfil Your Deepest Purpose - Mastermind Taster Experience - Click here to find out more

Part seven of the series (scroll up), was about accepting or refusing the call. We looked at the creative ways in which you may refuse the call and how you may mitigate any concerns to pave the way for acceptance. The next step is deciding to cross the threshold from your known to the unknown world.

"Those who stand at the threshold of life always waiting for the right time to change are like the man who stands at the bank of a river waiting for the water to pass so he can cross on dry land." - Joseph B. Wirthlin

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a Threshold as "a ...point...above which something is true or will take place and below which it is not or will not" and initiation as " the rites, ceremonies, ordeals,...with which one is …invested with a particular function or status"

Crossing the threshold is therefore an initiation into your new future. It is a point of commitment to declare that you are invested in your decision.

The journey to the unknown world is not straightforward and will offer lots of opportunities for you to give up and return to the comfort of your known world. Having a moment in time anchored deep in your mind helps spur you on to take the next step.

You get to decide what 'crossing the threshold' looks like for you. To amplify its effectiveness engage as many of your senses as possible by incorporating movement, smell, sound, emotion and visualisation.

You can write down your commitment to change, describing how you want to be in your new world, and what it will look and feel like in the present tense like it is already happening. Read it out loud close your eyes and see it in your mind as true, imagine what it feels and smells like. Find or create a physical boundary to cross over that would remind you of your new commitment like passing through a door or climbing over an object that represents the past.

Place the written commitment annotated with the date and your signature and put it somewhere you will see it often. When you are feeling discouraged and tempted to quit, go back and re-embody the moment you crossed that threshold.

There is something about making a public pronouncement that represents crossing the threshold for me. I never want to let people down. It acts as extra motivation to work towards my objective.

Crossing the threshold for me was making a video and posting it online that I was going to be hosting a Mastermind experience later this year (link in the comments below).

How would you choose to cross the threshold as you continue on your EPIC hero's journey?

********

Becoming

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

Are you ready

Or will you still hold on

Hanging on for dear life

To what appears to be

Blocking the very passageway

For what you could become

********

How do you remind yourself of your commitments?

*********

Fulfil Your Deepest Purpose - Mastermind Taster Experience - Click here to find out more

Part eight of the series (catch-up link in comments below), highlighted the importance of creating a ritual to mark the crossing of the threshold from your known world to the unknown world. Here we explore some of those challenges you may encounter along the way and how to transform them.

"Believe me, my journey has not been a simple journey of progress. There have been many ups and downs, and it is the choices that I made at each of those times that have helped shape what I have achieved." - Satya Nadella

Every journey will have its challenges, some may be due to external circumstances beyond your direct control while others arise from your limiting beliefs, fears, and unhelpful habits which have kept you in the known world. As you progress through the unknown world they have the potential to act against your intentions and take you back, acting as internal "enemies" to your desired outcomes.

Launching warfare against these "enemies" would not be helpful, as they absorb your energy and grow stronger. You do not need to make yourself wrong to be motivated to change.

Transform these "enemies" into allies to support your new path while being compassionate to yourself.

Internal transformation begins with being consciously aware of the things that are no longer supporting your new journey, and retraining your mind to make different choices. Over time consistent action will recondition your mind to default to the desired response.

Here is a framework to support this process

[N]oticing how you are experiencing events and people without judgement

[E]nquiring what is going on for you that informs your responses

[W]orking out which of your belief systems drives that response

[W]ondering what other belief system could be true (i.e. try the opposite belief)

[A]lter your response based on an updated belief that will

[Y]ield a different outcome and then repeat

I noticed that I had the tendency to invest all my energy into promoting others but was resistant to promoting my own projects. This came from beliefs about me not mattering as much as others which formed as a result of childhood experiences.

I developed a mantra about my own self-worth and made conscious efforts to talk about things I was working on and gave myself permission to be excited about them.

What unhelpful beliefs are hampering your EPIC hero's journey?

********

Noticing

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

The power of paying attention

Becoming consciously aware

Though it has always been there

Running under my radar

Shaping my experiences

Of which I was oblivious

The windows now open

My vision much clearer

That which had me

Letting go ever so slowly

A reality seen in retrospect

Through the power of noticing

********

How would you turn an unhelpful belief into an empowering one?

*********

Fulfil Your Deepest Purpose - Mastermind Taster Experience - Click here to find out more

Welcome back, I had been otherwise engaged in taking the necessary actions to make my Hero's Journey a reality.

At the end of September I hosted a two-day in-person mastermind experience for leaders and business owners to navigate transition in their respective journeys.

It was a life-affirming experience and confirmation that my unique approach of using poetry for deep transformational reflection can produce fantastic results.

As some of the delegates put it "It is unique and transformational", "The last 2 days were amazing! Thank you so much"

Look out for news about an in-person version of the event soon!

Part nine of the series (catch-up link in comments below), introduced a process for transforming unhelpful internal "enemies" into friends. Here we focus on the part that ordeals play in death and rebirth.

Our minds tend to draw a linear straightforward path when predicting the future and when life does not line up with those expectations it can feel like an ordeal.

"Life is an ordeal, albeit an exciting one, but I wouldn't trade it for the good old days of poverty and obscurity." - Jim Carrey

The reality of life is that when we make a commitment to a new path, obstacles will arise that we will need to navigate to get to our intended goal.

As I was putting together my event, there was a point when it began to feel like an ordeal as I battled with the fear that I might not be able to make it work financially as potential attendants fell by the wayside or kept me hanging. The dream was beginning to feel like a nightmare.

Thanks to some wonderful allies who helped me gain perspective, I went through death and rebirth.

I recognised that I was carrying the weight of expectation being heavily attached to the outcome and was compromising my enjoyment of the process.

I let go of expectations and relaxed; trusting that the universe had my back and all I needed was to take the next step.

Ironically this was one of the cornerstones of my TransFLOWmation approach. I guess we all need reminding from time to time.

Confirmations of attendance started coming in and divine downloads of materials to share in the experience.

How can you turn your ordeal into an opportunity for death and rebirth?

********

Squiggly

By Frank Bolaji Irawo

The lines of our lives

Are rarely ever straight

I would say

They are partial

To taking a squiggly trajectory

As we criss-cross

This complex human

Dynamic

Trying, failing, learning

And trying again

Taking this from that

Leaving that for this

Experiencing hit

Followed by miss

Ascending the heights

Climbing out from the lows

We are still here

Ready for another day

Moving forward

Heroes of the Squiggly

World we live in

********

Share in the comments, any tips you have for reframing ordeals

*********

Text goes here

Text goes here