Self Improvement As Heroism

Our culture believes in a lie. That lie is that heroism is about self-sacrifice. That to be a hero, you have to put others’ lives and safety above your own. That’s certainly a brave and, sometimes, heroic thing to do. But it is not, in my opinion, the way to define a hero.

I think, talk, and write a lot about Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Here’s a little inside info on it: If you see an image of it and the steps go left to right (clockwise), the person who made that image may not totally understand their Campbell.

See, left to right is the direction of the status quo in western culture. We read left to right. Clocks go left to right. Status bars fill up left to right. Left to right is the direction of going with the flow.

When you do what you’ve always done, when you choose not to deviate from your habits, you’re going left to right.

Campbell illustrated the Hero’s Journey as going right to left (which he referred to as the left-hand path). Right to left is going against the flow, going upstream, going against the status quo.

When you decide to do something different than you’ve always done — when you decide to lose weight, or to quit smoking, or to start a new job, or, in any way to better yourself, you’re moving in a heroic direction. You’re going against your own flow.

So, to me, a hero is someone who steps out against their own nature and habits to improve themselves.

What needs to change in your life? How can you bravely step out against who you’ve always been