Stretching Yourself

I once heard that you grow the most, when you stretch yourself the most. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about this concept. I've been thinking about some of the things in my life that make me feel uncomfortable, or skills that I don't possess, and have been thinking about ways to overcome these obstacles. The way I figure it, if I can stretch myself and learn at least one different skill a week, do something that will help me grow, my comfort zone will expand, and I will gain more life experiences. I will document my progress on this blog, so if you want to make suggestions on new things I could do each week, feel free to let me know!

Why do I want to stretch myself? It's simple. It's my "Hero's Journey". I've written about Joseph Campbell, a famous philosopher, in some of my previous posts, and yes, I'm slightly obsessed with his teachings. He focused his life's work on this concept of the "Hero's Journey". He studied how every mythological story, bible story, etc. and how they come together as a metaphor for the journey that we each go on. He diagramed his theory as a circle with 3 main phases to our lives: The Separation, The Initiation, and The Return.

The Separation focuses on the Hero's call to adventure, branching out from your natural state. For example, I am currently on an airplane, with my boss, on our way to Orange County, to do a major handoff with one of our company's largest accounts. Basically, this handoff will be the biggest moment of my professional career, thus far, where I will personally be handling all major relationships with one of our biggest partners. The Separation here is leaving my wonderful boyfriend, my fur children, and my comfortable home, to fly across the nation and assume major responsibilities. 

Luke Skywalker's call to adventure.

The Initiation of this adventure will be where the "hero" will take "The Road of Trials", as Joseph Campbell would say. This is where a "hero" needs to pass a series of tests to begin the transformation. So, I will be making note of everything that happens this week with the handoff, and then report back to you... Which brings me to the last major phase: The Return. 

The Return focuses on the retained wisdom that the "hero" has gathered on his/her quest, and how the "hero" applies this wisdom to their life, and shares this wisdom with the world. The story is the most important part of this phase. What did the hero learn? How did this process help the hero grow? What will I learn from taking over this large account? What can I do better the next time? In what ways did I stretch myself? 

So, all of this being said, this week I will be stretching myself professionally. I will be taking a big step towards big learning experiences. I will be meeting a lot of very important people, and I will be broadening my horizons on ways to better improve our partnership. I will be meeting the CEO, CFO and other level employees at this company. I will be the quarterback for this account. I'm the youngest employee to ever do this at my company... And you know what? Bring it on. 

The phone is ringing... 

My call to adventure has been answered. 

....

Will you answer the call?

Stretch yourself.