by Will Craig
Personal Guide – Guardian Spirit
The personal guide and guardian for life mastery is your guardian spirit. Heroes still face dangers and evil both from within and without. Your guardian spirit not only protects you, but also inspires the decisions leading to a life well lived.
You are stepping into a new role. The pupil becomes the teacher; the protégé becomes the mentor; the apprentice becomes the master. Returning with the elixir empowers you with knowledge and wisdom—the experiences had, the lessons learned, and the wounds healed.
Having lived and survived in both spheres, you are officially the Master of Two Worlds. You know the geography of the ordinary and special worlds, as well as the currents of the conscious and unconscious minds. You know thyself.
Knowing yourself well, being passionate about your purpose, and living in your essence weaves an exquisite tapestry known as a high quality of life.
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” ~ Pericles, Greek statesman and orator
Owning the Life You Deserve
You’ve likely figured out that the life you’ve lived, up till now, is the life you’ve earned—for better or worse. You are accountable. It’s on you. No one else has lived your life—not even for a moment.
The truth is, you already own the life you deserve. If you think you deserve more, then you need to be more.
The sum total of everything you bring to the world, the way you play the cards you were dealt, the way you benefit our interconnected humanity—this is your life. You are endowed with the power to improve it. Suffering is optional.
The conquering hero can choose to own a big castle filled with expensive possessions—the more, the merrier. Or, the victor can place the spotlight on owning something far more valuable—a life well lived.
Ownership requires responsibility. And, as we’ve learned, taking responsibility equals power. Endowed with the gifts and talents we now know we possess, we are in the unique position of living the life we desire. Be careful what you wish for.
You’ve made the hard choices, completed the challenging tasks, faced your demons, and named your dragons. You know how this works and command the resources to make most anything happen. What do you wish for?
“There are thousands and thousands of people out there leading lives of quiet, screaming desperation,” says work/life balance author, Nigel Marsh, “where they work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.”
Ask any millionaire—or billionaire, for that matter—how important money is in their life and they won’t quibble. Like the rest of us, they recognize they wouldn’t want to be without it. The wealthy, however, go on to acknowledge that money doesn’t deliver all the “riches” they first perceived it would when they were young and foolish.
As you must own the life you deserve, so too, you must own your excellence. Let’s face it—you are amazing! There is no one else in the world like you. It’s almost too hard to believe, but it’s true. You are one of a kind.
You have a gift that you were brought into this world to convey. No one else can deliver it but you. There’s just one catch. To fully deliver this gift, to fully live up to your potential, you must own your excellence. You must acknowledge your greatness and all the reasons you are special.
Why is owning our excellence so challenging for most of us? Is it just a matter of confidence?
If self-confidence were all it took, we would, in fact, own our excellence. There’s a natural tendency to believe we’re not as good as the next guy. We’ve had to overcome certain obstacles, trials, and tribulations. We must not be as inherently wonderful as the truly dynamic people around us.
Intellectually, we know this isn’t true. But somehow, the message doesn’t seem to resonate in our core.
Of course, there are certain individuals (and I’m sure you’ve met a few) who are tremendously self-confident—maybe over-confident—and own more excellence than they deserve. For some reason, they have an over-inflated opinion of their skills and abilities, and are fearless. How do they do that?
We can all take a lesson from these mere mortals. Grab some of that confidence for yourself. Other human beings are people much like you and me. In fact, people are more alike than they are different. There’s a better-than-average chance they are not as glorious as they imagine or pretend to be. There is an equally good chance (100%, in my book) that you are much better than you perceive yourself to be. Acknowledge your greatness. Own the life you deserve. Forrest did.
Despite his low IQ and physical restrictions, Forrest excels at living a charmed life. He runs from one encounter to the next, shrugging off limitations and discrimination. Actor Tom Hanks gives an Oscar-winning performance in the title role of the 1994 film Forrest Gump.
Life doesn’t turn out to be ideal for Forrest (when does it ever?), but it doesn’t keep him from being kind, honest, and forthright with everyone he meets. Maybe the most incredible attributes Forrest possesses are courage and confidence. Was Forrest compensating for his weaknesses by demonstrating these virtues, or was he courageous and confident because he didn’t know any better? It doesn’t matter, does it? Either way, he owned the life he deserved.
“Run, Forrest, run!”
Your Personal Legend
Striving to develop a personal legend sounds a little egocentric. It appears to run counter to our purpose, especially since we just spent an enormous amount of time and energy trying to transcend the ego and integrate it into our being.
Yes, it’s true that a personal legend could be used for less-than-altruistic reasons. But in living the Hero’s Journey, our purpose is self-actualization: living in essence.
Self-actualization is a human need, as are esteem, love, shelter, food, and water. Gaining fulfillment through achieving our potential ranks at the top of the hierarchy. The trouble is, if we’re homeless, don’t have enough to eat, and our safety is constant jeopardy, self-actualization isn’t anywhere close to top-of-mind awareness.
A formalized framework of human needs comes from Abraham Maslow. In Motivation and Personality, published in 1954, he describes the stages of personal growth and the path that human motivations follow.
Most often portrayed in the shape of a five-tiered pyramid, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs demonstrates that once basic needs are fulfilled, the individual moves up the pyramid to the next stage—from physiological, safety, love, and esteem needs to the need for self-fulfillment.
Maslow’s basic premise is, “What man can be, he must be.” He asserts that humans at the top of their game need to experience purpose and meaning in their lives. The highest degree of intellectual achievement, according to Maslow, is self-actualization.
Late in his life, he criticized his own work, recognizing that realizing one’s potential was only half of self-actualization. The other “you complete me” half was transcendence—helping others realize their potential.
Combining Maslow’s original hierarchy with his later inclusion of transcendence provides a remixed and remastered version we’re calling your personal legend—fulfilling your life’s spiritual purpose.
The life you live is the outward expression of your inner journey.
Personal legends support and reinforce all of our needs: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. They awaken us to answer the call, take the leap, and pursue our destiny. A personal legend is a spiritual call challenging us to answer the questions: Why am I here? Am I serving a purpose greater than myself?
A personal legend is not a collection of stories about how great your life has been. It’s not about how well you perform or how successful you are in your career. Your legend is not what you’ve accomplished for yourself or what is chiseled on your tombstone.
A personal legend informs and directs the overarching purpose of our life. Like the legend on a map that explains the symbols and what they mean, the
personal legend guides us along the Map of Self-Discovery.
The subconscious mind uses symbols to sort and code information. The personal legend speaks the language of the mind influencing our decisions while providing direction on the path of our dreams. Understanding our legend and manifesting our purpose is what brings us joy and enthusiasm.
In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho tells the story of the shepherd boy Santiago sleeping under a sycamore tree. In his recurring dream, he is told, “If you come here, you will find a hidden treasure.” Santiago sets out on a quest to discover his treasure—a journey to realize his personal legend.
Santiago makes the most important choice of his life: pursuing his personal legend. Along his path, he meets his mentor, gains many allies, fends off troublesome enemies, and experiences love.
Near the end of the story, Santiago realizes that finding his treasure wasn’t nearly as rewarding as the journey itself. He learned much, lived purposefully, and loved well—none of which would have happened had he been told exactly where to find his hidden treasure buried right under the sycamore tree where the story begins.
We grasp our legend when we undergo transformation. Napping under a tree takes us nowhere. Similar to alchemy, where lead is transformed into gold, we transform our full potential into the best version of ourselves: self-actualization.
Everyone has a personal legend, but not everyone chooses to pursue it. Santiago wasn’t looking for his personal legend; he set out on a journey to realize it.
Author Paulo Coelho said, “You know that you have a reason to be here. It’s the only thing that gives you enthusiasm.” The Alchemist was certainly his personal legend; Coelho passionately wrote the book in only two weeks. He explained the story was “already written in my soul.”
As you weave new storylines into your personal action-adventure and write new chapters into your life you never imagined possible, consider the cumulative as well as incremental effects of pursuing your personal legend—a process more valuable than gold.
“What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream.” ~ The Alchemist
Living In Essence
Essence is the intrinsic nature and essential qualities of an individual. It is an extract or concentrate from the very center of your being. Essence is hard to capture because it is full of fleeting mystical moments—although it is sometimes possible to capture the essence of someone in a good photograph.
Essence is not your personality. Persona is your mask, the identity that facilitates hiding the real you—your essence. Persona is a direct report to the ego, which commands every calculated move of the personality. Essence is independent of the ego. In our essence, we are here to serve others, whereas the ego is all about serving itself.
The inner journey is one from identity to essence. Michael Hauge sees the transformation as “the necessary death of one’s identity in order to be fulfilled and achieve one’s destiny.” When you strip away the mask and everything you’re attached to (home, car, job, looks, money), what’s left? This is your essence. This is who you really are.
Essence is not your story. It may be an excellent contributor to your story, but it is not the story itself. We tell our stories so often and so convincingly that we end up believing them even when they’re not in our best interest. Our stories can hijack our lives to the point that we’re living day to day to fulfill our self-proclaimed sad existence.
We get married to our stories not because we believe they support our best efforts and challenge us beyond our comfort zone. We attach ourselves to limiting beliefs because they’re comfortable and require little effort. Don’t let your story commandeer your quest.
So, if essence isn’t your personality or your story, what is it?
Essence is like your style—how you express your inner being. Like the invisible gift of intuition, essence is more of an intangible, ethereal presence.
Essence might best be described in the alchemy of perfume. Forego the individual components of fragrant essential oils or aromatic compounds. It is not the chemicals but the chemistry that surrounds us when we combine it with our body’s heat, oils, and aromas. It is unique to us and permeates our being. It is everywhere, and it is nowhere. What would you be doing if you were living in your essence? Here are some possibilities:
Living from the heart
Sharing your gifts and talents
Lighting the fires of your passion
Harmonizing with the world around you
Understanding why you are here
Expressing yourself creatively
Living life on purpose
Aristotle believed the energy of the mind is the essence of life. When you know what you love, what you’re good at, what you're passionate about, and what your purpose is, you’re feeding your essence. In turn, your essence nourishes your spirit.
I enjoy crafting a good sentence (weird, I know). Better yet, I love composing a complete paragraph that sings. I express my inner being through the creative endeavors of writing and photography. My essence is composed of learning, sharing, teaching, and collaborating. It’s all those things and none of them at any given moment. When mixed with my passion, purpose, gifts, and talents, the resulting chemistry becomes my essence.
Living in my essence enables me to help people discover their life path by charting new adventures in personal growth and lifelong learning. I gain fulfillment in my life purpose and serve others at the same time.
Essence is everything you are and everything you are meant to be. Within the seeds of knowledge and understanding, you find inspiration and motivation. The cycle becomes self-perpetuating. The experience and wisdom acquired on life’s path enable you to live from the inside out.
Living in your essence provides a well-nourished co-creator for realizing your best self—your personal legend.
Becoming the Master
At the beginning of this book, we asked the crucial questions: What is the meaning of life? Who am I? What on earth am I doing here?
The absence of meaning and purpose leaves us numb and directionless. Heroes on a quest find any way possible to return with at least some semblance of meaning. Each of us reconciles these questions and finds the answers within ourselves while living the Hero’s Journey.
Gregg Levoy believes life doesn’t end with answers, but with another question: What next? A new beginning begs your attention and participation. The story requires an action hero in the role of a lifetime.
The circle of learning, the circle of life, takes us around the continuous loop of awareness/change/renewal. Each new level enlightens us to a better version of ourselves—one that was inside just waiting to burst out and flourish.
Where are you on your journey? Where are you in the evolutionary order? Are you just getting by, or have you evolved up the hierarchy? Have you arrived at a level that enables you to give back and pay it forward?
The ego helps you survive and thrive. The soul helps you serve and support. Is it your turn to step up and shift roles? Is it time to open your eyes to your destiny, to your real purpose in life? If not, that’s okay. Only you know if you’re fooling yourself and stunting your fullest potential.
The role of the hero is to serve and to sacrifice. The role of the master is to enlighten and to embolden. As the mentor, you freely share your wisdom and inspire confidence.
If you’re at the point now where you’re thinking, “Yeah, service, I’ll get to that later,” just know that is a refusal of the call. You are here for a reason. You have been created for a purpose, and if you choose, you may pursue your legend and fulfill your destiny. It’s always been your choice.
The meaning of life is mysteriously revealed in the act of giving. According to Matthew Kelly, author of The Rh
ythm of Life, there is no faster way to discover the purpose of your life than to “embrace the daily opportunities to serve those around you.”
“You have been born to live one life,” Kelly states. “Nobody else has been entrusted with your role in human history. If you do not play your part, your part will go unplayed.” Think about it. What would it be like if you opted out? How would the world be different had you never been born?
It’s difficult not to think about Jimmy Stewart playing the role of George Bailey in the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life. George wishes he had never been born and gets to see what the world would look like without him.
In this alternate reality, George’s beloved community of Bedford Falls is instead named Pottersville, after the greedy banker. Many of George’s friends and relatives that he helped along the way are now down and out, in prison, or worse. His brother Harry died as a child when George wasn’t there to save him from drowning after breaking through the ice and falling into freezing water. Harry never goes on to become a war hero, and all the soldiers he would have saved also die. George’s guardian spirit, Clarence, tells him, “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
The choice is yours. You can embrace your role and bring meaning to yourself and to the world, or you can opt out. No one will be the wiser. It will be like you were never born.
Mythologist Joseph Campbell believed that life is inherently without meaning and that you bring meaning to it. If you follow your bliss, he says, “You put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living.”