The Hero´s Journey

          If you want to be a hero let's start from the beginning the first step to be a hero you must be a person who act rather than a person who says I can't. You have to be committed with yourself body and soul to find and follow your heroic Pathway.

          Our personalities and desires shape our callings. Each of us has to find out purpose and what we really want to became. We have to ask ourselves: Who am I? Who do I want to become? This questions will clarify our purpose on Earth and our path as leaders, fathers and entrepreneur and when we discover who we are and what is our proposed here we start understanding our path to succeed. We must remember that success sometimes doesn't mean power or money. Entrepreneurs are driven by action and it's easy to be destroyed by this two things, (power and money).it is not Wealth that destroys people but wealth without understanding does. To be prepared is important to have “stars and stepping-stones”  the advice is to choose ten people, three under forty, three between forty and sixty, and three over the age of sixty. Interview them and ask them about victories and defeat, triumph and regrets. Try to learn from their mistakes and be willing to listen to their wisdom.

          Another important preparation in our path as heroes and important leaders is to set guardrails that will protect us and keep us in our path. What lines will I never cross? What cost is too high? What moral or ethical boundaries will I always observe? If all the CEO’s CFO’s and employees keep this in mind we will have a brighter future. But unfortunately it doesn't happen, sometimes we are punished to keep our principles, we will lose some deals, sales and even “friends” in order to keep our principles, but this principles will keep us in the path we had set before. A wise man once said “ what good will be for a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

          Once started the journey you have to choose your “board of advisors” these people will help you in time of doubts, but it is very important to choose people that will complement yourself and not merely compliment you. Different opinions are always good to listen to, because you will understand another point of view, and choose a better path. The necessary qualities to be in your board are: Integrity, optimistic, kind and passionate. My own board of advisors are composed by: My wife, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin franklin, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Leandro Krieger, Moroni, Joseph from Egypt and Carlos Wizard Martins.

          During your journey you´ll have some problems and difficulties to face, you may have two ways of thinking, or you may think you are too weak or ignoble to succeed, or you can see problems as opportunities, as challenges spurring new ways of thinking and personal growth. In your journey you will have to walk in dark valleys and soon you may find yourself in despair, to overcame it is important to do the list of your greatest fears and after, set a plan how to mitigate the risk and the way back to status quo. Follow the example:

Deconstructing My Fears

My fear.	Strategy to mitigate risk	Way back to status quo
Describe your fear	Set an strategy to reduce the risk	If you are in despair what will be the way back to the beginning, before you have felt in despair.
Lost my clients for my competitors.	Always bring new things for our company, cool activities, the best quality in our services, good sales department, and the best financial department.	If we start take better decisions than our competitors between one and two years we start growing up again.
Lost my house	Pay the loan as soon as possible and live with a budget	I would sell one of my companies to pay the loan as soon as possible.

          During your journey, you will have challenges and difficulties you will have to face, but nothing comparing to your “Dragon” your Dragon is something that you will not escape unscathed, you will not emerge unchanged. You will have to sacrifice part of yourself in order to conquer and move forward. The bad news is that if you refuse to face your dragon it will appear at the worst of times. The good news is that just you have the talents and courage needed to slay it. Remember the dragon is not just a mere stone in the road.

          Finally your dragon have been conquered, and you finally succeed. You are home! What now? Now you can take time to enjoy the success you have earned, use your success not just for you but for others, invest in the future. A hero is never stopped at the time, so after you take a rest and help others, you have to set your next adventure, but don´t set out without a plan. At the end of each journey you have to ask that fundamental question: Who am I? And who do I want to become? These questions always will push you up and make you change the way you understand life, power, money, wisdom, yourself and the people around you.