The Hero in Your Story

By: Bradley Binversie

“We are all the heroes in our own story.”

There’s a lot of truth and wisdom behind this phrase and it impacts many facets of our lives. In some way or another we all view ourselves as the hero who is living out an incredibly important journey. We are striving, seeking to overcome the odds and slay the hypothetical mythical dragon in our life’s quest. Our hypothetical dragons might be raising a great family, building a business, reaching new heights academically, or any number of things that are important to us individually.

While this type of thinking is completely normal, we should remember that everyone in the world perceives themselves as the heroes in their own story, whatever that story might be. Once we’ve come to that understanding, we can take a step back and recognize that while we may be the heroes in our stories, we are not the heroes in everyone else’s story. We are not the knights in shining armor to them, but a healthier approach might be to think of ourselves as man who gives them their own sword or tools so they can “slay their own dragon” and accomplish their own hero story. This is a powerful motivation thought process that applies to any number of situations.

1. Employees or Co-workers- each one of them have their own dreams and destinations. What tools, steps, or help can you offer them on their own hero journey?

2. Parenting- While our children our young they depend on us for everything. But as they grow, how can we empower them so they can live out their hero story?

We often reference sports metaphors and examples because they are easy to point to and understand, but a great one in this example is Nick Saban. It’s amazing the amount of head coaching successes that have emerged from working under Coach Saban at Alabama. When he hires his assistant coaches, he knows that most of them dream of being their own head coach someday. He doesn’t hold back this dream for fear of losing a good coach. Instead, he empowers them, challenges them, and if the Alabama football team succeeds it gives them the opportunity to live out their own hero story of being a head coach somewhere.

At Exclusivia, this is a core value that we apply to our members, our employees, and our partners. Everyone in our ecosystem has their own unique goals, needs, and mission in life. They are the hero in their own story. So the role of Exclusivia is not to be the hero and try to save the day, but instead to empower and provide the “sword” so they can slay their own mythical dragon.