I had to tackle the question, “What defines me?” so my Hero’s Journey could begin. The Monomyth or The Hero’s Journey was brought to mainstream thinking by the mythologist and researcher, Joseph Campbell.
From Joseph Campbell, I learned that every story has an arc. I could not short-circuit the route. So, I decided to understand where I am and what steps I needed to reach the next milestone. Ever heard, “Who doesn’t have to be you”. I took that to heart and I tapped into the vast community of intellects, caregivers and friends that nurture me. I asked for honest opinions, ideas and brainstorming sessions for solutions. I have always had a Board of Trustees to help guide my success. For this journey, I replaced my parents, grandparents, aunts and mentors with those trusted colleagues and friends in my extended network. My design team appeared.
I originally signed up for coaches training because I knew it would assist with my redesign. I wanted tools and theory to assist in my growth. Armed with coaches training and my accountability partner, my career redesign began. It inspired me to hire a web developer, branding specialist, and a copy writer. (By “hire” I mean I talked to my friends offered their skills, gratis.)
I had wrangled an award-winning web developer, a magazine editor to help with my marketing materials, and an amazing graphic designer whose wedding I officiated 8 years prior.
Other signs that I was moving in the right direction started showing up everywhere. For the first time in four years, the bald spots I had worked so hard to hide on my head were no
longer there. Without the use of heavy medication, my hair began to grow back. Apparently, my alopecia was stress related. As I began to unpack my baggage, I realized that
other small health issues that disappeared were also likely caused stress related.
It’s was a daunting hurdle, but I learned from coaching that curiosity and knowledge are the key to lock worry, doubt and uncertainty away.
Now I knew who I was and I found the support I needed, but direction was still unknown. I explored new ideas by meeting with successful entrepreneurs, spent time meditating, joined alliances and attended conferences that reset my boundaries. I read, researched and absorbed any topic that sparked my interest.
