Let the Power of Myth Inspire Your Professional Journey
Category: Physician Career Resilience, Physician Coaching Tips, Physicians Aligned with Core Values, Physicians Leading Transformation
Are you doing what you were meant to do?
Do you have the feeling that some invisible hand has guided you to take on challenges that seemed just “the right thing” for you?
Or do you have the uneasy sensation that the true path for you is still waiting?
The mysteries of why you chose medicine, and why you are now called on to venture beyond your current comfort zone are explained through the mythical stories of ages.
Is it far-fetched to consider your journey into physician leadership, or entrepreneurship, or business as a “hero’s journey” on par with Odysseus? Not at all. According to the late Joseph Campbell, the renowned scholar on mythology, these ancient stories have tremendous power to inform and guide our own lives.
Over the past two weeks I have been re-listening to the audio tape version of “The Power of Myth, PBS’s outstanding series of interviews with Joseph Campbell conducted by Bill Moyers. When I viewed the the television series when it first aired ten years ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks because I was just starting my own (mystical) professional transition and transformation. I realized I was reliving the experience of Campbell’s ubiquitous “hero”—-journeying into the unknown, scared, but somehow fully trusting that the path I was forging was being illuminated for me, one brick at a time.
How can the “Power of Myth” help you in becoming the leader you were meant to be? To get on the business path you were meant to follow? Or to find the personal life that reflects your true essence and values?
While Campbell doesn’t “prescribe” lessons for life, here are some specific insight I want to share with you:
- You were meant to contribute to the world in a unique way. Campbell calls this “following your bliss”. Ask yourself if you experience joy every day? Joy is a sign of following your bliss.
- Fear is normal when you are venturing out of your (seemingly) comfortable environment. If fear and anxiety are mounting, the call to seek your true path is beckoning. Accept fear, and trust that your true path will be built by “invisible hands” one step at a time.
- Call on the mystical traditions of your religious or spiritual foundation to assist you in taking the personal challenge that has been crafted just for you. Look for the poetry in sacred writings and teaching, and open yourself to the “clues” contained there just for you.
If your ultimate goal is professional achievement, personal contribution and a truly meaningful life, I encourage you delve into teachings and resources like the Power of Myth. The fully lived and experienced life is more than the utilization of specific skills. It is the evolution of your self through one or more personal journeys where you are called on to be the “hero” in your own story.
- Here is the Amazon.com link for the Book or Audio Series of Bill Moyer’s Interviews with Joseph Campbell