Category Archives: Origin Story

Where Do You Come From?

Destroy Fear of Mistakes

I was watching this interview the other day.

One of the writers who was talking about the next Star Wars movie.

The question was about one of the characters, and what the writer’s response was to the various “origin theories” floating around online.

He gave some kind of vague answer, saying it would be “satisfying” to everybody.

But the idea of an “origin story” is VERY common in almost all popular stories and myths.

Often times the formula is first we meet the hero, then we become interested in how they “became” the hero.

Why is this so compelling?

Maybe because all of us, on a deep level, want to know “where” we come from.

Maybe as ancient tribes were wandering across the face of the Earth, knowing where they came from would help them to learn from their mistakes. Or learn from their predecessors, mythological or not.

One metaphor is when driving your car, the ratio between the windshield and your rear view mirror is a good ratio.

Meaning you want to be focused MOSTLY on where you’re going, but you need to glance behind you from time to time.

When talking about Meta Programs, this means you want to be motivated a little bit by pain or fear, but mostly by the pleasure of where you are headed.

This is one of the problems many people have with goal setting. If they ONLY are motivated by moving away from pain, the further away from pain they get, the less motivation they have.

Compare the people in your local gym in the first week of January to the first week of March and you’ll see the difference.

How can you avoid this common trap?

Spend a few minutes each and every day meditation on where you are going.

Visualize what it will be when you get there.

Feel all the feelings, see all the sights, hear all the sounds.

This is the power of keeping a daily journal.

If you have a goal, write down ANYTHING you did that day to get you closer.

Then imagine ANYTHING you can do the next day. And actually take the time to imagine doing it.

The future will be EASY to create when you practice building.

Of course, there will be mistakes along the way. You can use journaling to USE THOSE to propel you even further into the future.

Once you realize how beneficial they are, the “fear” of “mistakes” will vanish.

It’s not magic. It takes time.

But with daily practice, you can slowly change your beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes, that will make it easy to achieve anything.

Of course, at the heart of most life plans is your ability to communicate with others.

Because part of EVERY hero’s journey is the support crew.

Get Started Building Yours:

Interpersonal Resonance

Have You Chosen Yet?

Choose Your Hero's Journey

Create Your Mission

One of the most common themes in superhero movies is an “origin story.”

We like to see how the hero “became” a hero.

The general progression is first there’s a story about the hero in his or her prime.

Then maybe another story or two. And then the origin story.

Even in modern movies, origin stories are often times the LAST of a franchise.

Even for ultra bad guys, like Darth Vader, first we see the bad guy, then we get the origin story.

A catholic priest explained to me this was precisely how the “story” of Jesus unfolded.

The first written gospels (Mark and Luke) started in the peak of his ministry. Later they touched on his “origins” (Matthew). Still later, they finally got to the beginnings (John).

Why do we tend to progress through this familiar process? Hero in his prime, then the origin story?

Maybe because we are keenly interested in our origins. First we figure out who we are, then we begin to wonder where we came from. 

Perhaps we feel this can help us better understand the complexities of life that we encounter on a day to day basis.

If we know where we came from, and why we are here, then we’ll maybe have an easier time dealing that stuff we don’t really want to deal with, but have to.

The great promise of life is that to a large extent, we get to DEFINE why we are here.

We are given a great deal of instincts, but even a greater range of learning abilities.

We don’t have wings, but we’ve learned to fly. We don’t have gills, yet we’ve learned to travel great distances underwater.

Our true purpose is that we are to choose our purpose.

To dream big, and then boldly move into our future with nothing but an expectation that we’ll learn more as we move forward.

They say that most people live lives of quiet desperation.

As if many of us are waiting for somebody to come and tell us what to do. Where to go. How to get there.

Once you realize that person is YOU, then it becomes clear.

Where do YOU want to go?

All you need to do is choose, and get going.