Well, a good friend of mine, Larry, he quit his job a few years ago to pursue his dream retail business. He’s been working away at it for years now, a few years. He’s poured all of his energy, heart, soul, and money into the business, to get it going and for the last few years, it’s been a really tough ride. But, you know what? In the last year or so, it’s really started to turn around. He’s starting to see the fruits of his labor, things have been great, he’s been great. But then, last week, an unexpected call from the landlord and a huge dispute, huge argument, now the shop has to be shut with a few days notice. What has Larry done to deserve this? What is going on? What’s the meaning of this?

Hi, I’m Kristen Myers and I’m the Founder of Next Level Coach Co, where we help professionals and entrepreneurs who’re looking to get to get to that next level in life, whether that’s more money, more joy, more fulfilment, more vitality. We help them get there by breaking through their unconscious limiting beliefs and negative attitudes so they can live their best, most fulfilling and joyful lives.

Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist famously put it that “man needs difficulties, they are essential for health.” What? What does that mean? Well, imagine a new Hollywood blockbuster film where in the movie, in the opening scene of the movie, the hero of the movie crushes the villain, the bad guy, in the first, opening scene of the movie and then for the next 90 minutes of the film, the hero lives happily ever after with the perfect life, the perfect family, the perfect house, perfect location, achieve everything they ever want in their dreams and there’s no obstacles and no difficulties at all. For the next 90 minutes. Would you watch that? No, I don’t think so. You’d be bored after five minutes.

We all know that without pain, there’s no gain. Like, if you do any sport or exercise or gym routine, you know that you have to put in consistent effort to get results. Like, if you go one time and lift some heavy weights, it’s not gonna do anything, it’s about the consistent effort and consistent results. And we know that if you want big muscles, you’ve gotta lift big weights, you need to have that resistance of the weights against your muscles, that’s what enables them to grow. Well, it’s no different from mind, body and spirit.

So, why is this important? What are we really talking about here? What we’re talking about is your life and the life of the hero in this story. And for a happy and fulfilling life, we need to be growing and transforming constantly and without constant growth, then well, unfortunately, it’s the universal truth that if we’re not growing, we’re decaying. And sometimes for incredible growth, we have to go through incredible pain. I know that’s not cool, it’s not fun, it’s not enjoyable, sometimes it’s tragic, sometimes it’s not fair, sometimes it’s a terrible tragedy, but that’s just the way it works.

You see, the hero needs a worthy opponent, someone who’s capable and can test them and push them to the limits, someone who can make them go through a process that enables enormous growth and transformation. You see, the hero story, it’s not just about the hero winning in the big scene at the end of the movie, but it’s about the whole journey, the whole story, going through all of the little things along the way that push them and test them and make them grow and that’s what makes it so fulfilling and compelling. And the same is true in our lives, it’s not about the things that we get at the end of the story, the things that we thought we wanted to have, or the things that we thought we wanted to do, those achievements, but it’s about the actual whole life path, the whole journey of getting there, the things that we go through, who we need to be, turning into the best versions of ourselves. It’s all about who do we need to be to live the dream life, that’s what makes us a hero. So the greater the villain, the more evil the villain, the bigger the obstacle, the bigger the odds are against the hero, the greater the hero.

Saying this makes me think of the recent events in Thailand, those people and the boys that have been stuck in the cave for a couple of weeks. It’s been a terrible tragedy, but throughout the rescue process, there’s been tragedy, drama, joy, adventure, and now celebration at the end and what makes it so compelling and incredible is the size of the problem and the size of the odds. Imagine if it was, they were just stuck there for five minutes and someone just plucked them out easily in five minutes. Do you think it would have made the news? Would we be talking about it now? No, no. It’s all about the size of the problem and the size of the obstacle that’s turning into such an incredible story and it’s amazing, I can’t believe it.

The other thing with heroes is that they’re never victims, they’re never there to say, “oh, um, my life’s just “upside down and I can’t do anything,” and “oh well, you know, I’ll just give up.” No, those rescuers who went in to save the boys and the people in the cave, they weren’t there for themselves, they weren’t complaining, they put their lives on the line and they were there saying, “I’m here, I’m gonna help, I’m gonna contribute, “I’m gonna make a difference, I’m gonna save the day, “I’m gonna save the world, I’m gonna save the kids.” Heroes take action and they inspire others.

So, my question for you is: What difficulties have you had in your life? What worthy opponents have popped up in you life? What empowering meaning can you take from those events? And, ultimately, what is your hero story? My friend Larry, with the shop who’s now shut, his hero story is just beginning.

If you’ve enjoyed this video, you’re gonna love my upcoming free webinar where I’m gonna share some personal stories, insights and tools that I’ve used to inspire and transform my life and you can use them to transform your life as well. It’s gonna be exciting and it’s free and it’s at KristenMyers.co/FreeWebinar KristenMyers.co/FreeWebinar I hope you’ll join me, it’s going to be great. And, as always, until next time, inspire yourself and inspire others. Cheers.