Week 2 – The Call to Adventure

Hero Moments

James Bond walks into M’s office at the beginning of a mission. Indiana Jones hears about the Nazi’s search for biblical artefacts in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harry Potter is visited by Hagrid and invited to study at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

The Call to Adventure is the moment when the Hero is pulled from his or her Ordinary World and propelled into a journey of exploration, growth and discovery. The entire world shifts as the protagonist’s perspective is permanently altered. There is no going back and nothing will be the same again.

Motivation

Motivation is your inner Call to Adventure. However, the only thing that will motivate you is yourself. Your inspiration for creating the life you want must come from inside or it will not endure. In order to create this internal motivation you can use a method which I call the Difference.

The Difference

Set aside some time and create a picture in your head of who you want to be. You can use one of your audio track meditation sessions to do this if you’d like. Make sure you see yourself, not another person. Picturing someone you admire, whether fictional or real, will not help as you’re not connected with this future vision the way you are when you see yourself. Imagine yourself with everything you’d like to have in your life, being the person you want to be. Think about:

• Your appearance – Your state of health, your body, your face, your hair, etc.
• Your Inner Game – Your confidence level, your feelings, your happiness, etc.
• Your stuff – Your home, how you get around, the clothes you wear, your accessories, where you want to travel, what you want to eat, etc.
• Your work – Your job, the company you work for, the business you want to start, etc.
• Your relationships – Your friends, family and significant other(s)
• Your wealth – How much (in detail: figures, assets, etc.)
• Your wisdom – Your knowledge, your skills, your experiences

Now figure out the gap between who you are and who you want to be. Be specific. Write it down. This is your Difference, and your task is to make the Difference smaller. Some things you may not be able to change, but anything you can is fair game. As you proceed through this course, keep your Difference in mind. It may affect your goals list, the actions you’re scheduling, and the choices you make. By having a clear vision of who you want to be you’ll begin to become that person.

Simplification

Once you’ve heard the Call to Adventure, you’ll want to reduce your load. Travel lighter. Free yourself of excess baggage. In other words, get rid of clutter! Reduce, redistribute, recycle. Lose everything that doesn’t reduce the Difference.

In order to simplify your stuff, take it one room, one dresser, one shelf, one box at a time. Set aside some time and start with one drawer or box. Take everything out, toss the garbage, and put back what you know you want to keep. For everything else, think about whether you need it or not. Practice making decisions. Err on the side of reduction. If you haven’t used it in a year, you probably don’t need it. If you’re not sure, put it in a box labelled with today’s date. If you haven’t opened that box in a year from now, get rid of it. A good source for more information about this process is It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh.

Get organized. Use this process with your clothes, the kitchen, your workspace, your files, the storage areas, the bathroom, your books, your living area, etc. When you’ve got a pile of clutter to get rid of, sell it if you can, give it away or recycle it if you can’t, and toss it if no one wants it. When you’re done, you’ll feel lighter and be ready to journey.

Week 2 Exercises and Resources

1. Continue your weekly meditations. Once a day this week, listen to Week 2 - The Call to Adventure. Continue meditating for the rest of this course and beyond.
2. Figure out your Difference. Use the method described above to determine the changes you need to make to move from where you are now to where you want to be. Write it down. Allow this Difference to affect the choices you make and the way you spend your time
3. Clutter clear. Go through your stuff and get rid of everything that is a burden. Get better and faster at making decisions. This may take longer than a week but continue the work until it’s done. It will be rewarding.

Movies/TV

The James Bond Movies
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Books

It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh.

Week 3

Contents