Building Success Habits

The Ego and the Hero’s Journey

“The ultimate dragon is within you, it is your ego clamping you down.”---- Joseph Campbell

Establishing a healthy Ego is the prerequisite for taking the Hero’s Journey safely. The developed Ego helps us meet our needs for survival, satisfaction, safety, love and belongingness. It also contributes to our self-esteem, self-actualization and even transcendence. It balances our individual needs with the needs of others and in that way contributes to the survival and development of the individual, the family, the community, the nation and the species.

Ego is born when we begin to learn that what we do can affect what happens to us. No matter how old, wise or mature we become, each of us has a vulnerable little child within us who still bears the scars of our formative years. The Ego’s first task is to protect that inner child.

The Ego’s next task, and it’s basic function is to mediate our relationship with the outside world. It is the experience of some hardship or difficulty that is critical to the development of Ego strength. The period of preparation for our Hero’s Journey often seems hard, but that is because we don’t yet possess the skills that can make life easier.

Preparation for the journey requires each of us to be socialized adequately to be effective in the society we live in, and then to separate from the collective view of the world enough to assert independent values, opinions and desires. It then demands that we use this capacity for autonomy and independence, not for selfish ends, even though we want to seek our own good, but for the good of the whole as well.

Awaken the Hero Within |IBGR | Donna Kunde & Londina Cruz

1. “The hero of yesterday becomes the tyrant of tomorrow, unless he crucifies himself today.”― Joseph Campbell
2. In episodes 9-11 we explored the shadow sides of the 12 Archetypes and in episode 11 we got a closer look at extreme negative shadow sides in the form of addictions, compulsions and even shadow possession where we take either the positive or negative traits of the Archetype to extremes. 
3. If we are possessed by any of the Archetypes, the way to free ourselves of shadow possession is to awaken our heroic potential. Each of us has a hero within us but we are not always aware of that reality. 
4. The natural way to activate our inner potential is to shine the light on it. When we begin to see that we have a hero within us, the hero naturally wakes up! The same thing happens with our Archetypes. 
5. You can literally ask the Archetype to come into your life, or you may prefer to act. For example, to awaken the Caregiver, give to others without thought of return. To activate the Sage, study and work to improve your thinking skills. Finally, while awakening all 12 Archetypes leads to a whole and rich life, it is not realistic to think they will all be equally active.

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“Sometimes you just have to calm down a little bit and let the system work itself”. -BlakeGriffin Many professionals cause worry, insecurity and tension by trying to respond emotionally to something that doesn’t exist except in our imaginations. Doing nothing is the proper response to an unreal problem! Carry these thoughts with you as your “Calm Professional” first aid kit: Inner disturbance (the opposite of tranquility) is almost always caused by over-response. Practice not responding and put some distance between yourself and the disturbing stimuli. Cure old habits of over-response, triggers and conditioned reflexes by delaying the automatic, habitual response. Counting to 10 is a great place to start. Relaxation is nature’s own tranquilizer. It is also a “non-response.” Learn physical relaxation by incorporating it into your daily routine. Use the “quiet room in your mind” technique both as a daily practice to tone down nervous responses and to clear your emotional mechanism of “carry-over” emotions that would not help the next situation. Stop scaring yourself with your own mental pictures! Respond emotionally only to what is actually here and now … and ignore the rest.

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