Hey! Before we dive into the biggest talking points from this week’s call, just a quick reminder. As Jacob will be at Burning Man for the next couple of weeks, there won’t be any Inner Circle calls until September 10th. On that day, Inner Circle service will resume as normal :o)

In the meantime, we’re hooking you up with a complementary copy of Living On Purpose that you can work through at your leisure. Grab it here.

So, Tuesday September 10th at 5pm EDT. Catch you then!

Now, onto this week…

Talking Point #1: The hero’s journey ain’t supposed to be easy

The hero’s journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, sets in when life’s ticking along as it’s always done, but then we get the sense that there’s something else out there. We’re often not sure what it is, but we know we need to pursue it. If we decide to answer the call, we need to create our own path; if there’s already a path there, it’s not ours.

Since we’re treading new territory, there are bound to be obstacles and dragons, but when we follow the path regardless, doors will appear where there were once only walls. It’s all about having the faith that things will work out and letting go of the “how.”

Those dragons we’ll face are actually inside us. They show up in the form of fear; that we’ll fail, that people will judge us, that we’re not enough. These fears are universal, but if nobody’s open about them, we think they’re unique to us. Despite these dragon-like fears being within us, they’re still very real obstacles that can be tough to deal with. But when we address them, that’s when we get the treasure (a.k.a. the new version of ourselves).

People may tell us to be “realistic” in the meantime, but realism is entirely subjective. Look at who’s voicing their (usually well-meaning) concerns. Are they fighting their own dragons? In the words of Brené Brown…

If you are not in the arena getting your butt kicked on occasion, I’m not interested in your feedback. Period.

Maybe our particular dragon is a fear of failure, a concern about risking our security. In actuality, outer security is an illusion. Granted, it’s an illusion that we need for our own sanity, but we need to find security in ourselves first and foremost. If we’re always aiming for outer security, we’ll never be fulfilled. If we have confidence, and consistency on our fundamentals, we’re better equipped to handle whatever comes up.

Talking Point #2: How do we stay authentic without compromising compassion?

Is authenticity just about saying whatever’s on our mind without thinking of the consequences? Well to us, the definition of authenticity is to be the author of our own story. It’s about being in alignment with what’s important to us.

Realness and integrity might be values of ours, but when does being real turn into being mean? When we honor one of our values, it shouldn’t be at the cost of another. We need to consider whether saying something that’s real to us would be at the expense of something else we believe in, like kindness, connection, or excitement.

Some things to think about: If someone’s bothering us, is it our business to take it personally? Think about how the thing that’s bothering us about that other person might reflect something within us. How can we acknowledge that and address them with compassion, while still remaining true to ourselves?

Talking Point #3: Get a mentor on board

It can be all too easy to look up to people in our field and put them on a pedestal. We imagine that they jump outta bed, bright-eyed and full of beans, and smash their to-do lists within a couple of hours of waking. They’ve just got their stuff together, right? But this ain’t the case; even the most “together” person still has breath that stinks in the AM! Nobody’s better than anyone else. But that doesn’t mean that our mentors can’t teach us a thing or two. So reach out to the people you admire. Send them a short, sweet email (the best kind!) with one sentence to say that you admire them and how their work’s impacted your life, followed by some social proof if you have it (who do you know that can vouch for your awesomeness?), and then include a line about how you can help the person out. People love *constructive* pointers for improvement, particularly if they’re accompanied by an offer of support.

Peep This Too!

We did a cool interview with Daniel Coyle for the WTF conference on the topics of work and mentors. Check it out here.

HW + Action Steps!

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