Got inspiration on how to bring finality to “The Wave” Leadership Book Series yesterday. 34 pages shot out of me yesterday. Here’s a piece of the introduction I’m working on. The 3 Stops in my framework serve as the 3 sections of my awakening and the path the book will take.
Let me know what you think in a DM, email reply or text message. What resonates?
Are you familiar with Joesph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’?
The hero's journey, also known as the monomyth, is a common template in narratology and comparative mythology where a hero goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and returns home transformed.1 It is a timeless story structure that follows a protagonist on an unforeseen quest, where they face challenges, gain insights, and return home transformed. This pattern has become ingrained into our cultural DNA, from Theseus and the Minotaur to The Lion King. To perfect the hero's journey, one can enroll in a novel-writing master class.
In a Russ interview, he mentions that the come-up part of his life was a ‘fuck the industry’ type of energy. The:
Why isn’t anyone recognizing my talent?
Why the fuck are y’all turning this scrub into a star? He has no talent
Whose dick did you suck to get that feature on his album?
Etcetera Etcetera.
Been there?
I have.
Wrote two books with my ‘fuck the industry’ energy.
If you’ve listened to the entire interview, you’ll already know this, Russ is transforming. Evolving into a higher version of himself. Calibrating at a higher level of consciousness if you’re into David Hawkins work…
I resonate a ton with his transformation because I feel like I’m currently evolving too. I paired down the Hero’s Journey into a 3 step process after listening to Russ and reflecting on my own journey:
Fuck You
Fuck Me
Fuck It
Stop #1- Fuck You (or Fuck the Industry)
When you’re not getting your shot and you have a deluded sense of self-belief like Russ and I shared, your first punch is at other people. Fuck you or fuck the industry.
It’s always someone else’s fault at first…
You say this because you’re entitled. He was and I was:
Listen:
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx3C_yw7M2yEgk4ZTKLBWX-jHVuTBIk1vt
As Russ finishes his take, he shares his realization.
He was chasing himself. And when you realize you’re doing that, you wake up a bit…Leading us right into Stop 2 on the journey.
Stop #2- Fuck Me
After you’re done lashing out like a 5-year-old that wants to go to Scheels but their parent won’t take them…
Extreme Ownership slaps you in the face and says, “Hey Dickhead, why do you care so much? Why is your self-importance so high that this is affecting you so profoundly negatively? What are you REALLY CHASING?”
Mark Manson has this quote:
“It’s not always your fault but it’s always your responsibility.”
Maybe it isn’t my fault that nobody has taken a coaching flyer on me in 3 offseasons. Maybe it isn’t my fault that people don’t recognize my value.
However, as Russ says, it’s not the industry’s job to reaffirm what I already believe.
Ipsofacto, if I believe in my value and continue to prove it here, that’s enough. Eventually, the dam will break and people will be ‘late to the game’ on me. They’ll miss the chance all 160 of you reading this right now have. To connect with someone before they ‘blow up’ and then can’t connect with all 1 million of their subscribers.
Every disadvantage has an advantage. This realization brings you to Stop 3.
Stop #3- Fuck It
Stop 3 is dropping the mask. Stop 3 is authenticity. True authenticity. Where you’d rather have 6 people love you than a million fans ‘like’ you.
Where question number 2 starts winning over question number 1:
What will other people think of this? What the fuck do I really want?
Where true freedom exists not just the illusion of it.
Where you’re not a slave to your boss, your audience or your job, but where you act authentically without fear of loss of any of those things.
Where you light the bridges on fire that don’t lead anywhere, not simply play nice to make nice.
When you realize it’s all ‘house money’.
Where you are… YOU.
This is the ‘Progression of Fucks’. This begs the question…
Which ‘Fuck Stop’ are you on?