Mythological Monsters Make Mastery Manageable

Of Men and Monsters

Try saying the title 5 times fast!

I dare you,

With that said, you might wonder what this newsletter is about.

I decided on something fun today:

We’ll be diving into ancient mythology. Specifically I'm going to share about 3 mythological creatures and the lessons you can learn from them. And yes, they are VERY much applicable in 2024!

And beyond!

Rising Like a Phoenix

Ever wondered why this newsletter is called Rise & Thrive?

It’s because the phoenix is the PERFECT analogy for personal development:

In case you don’t know, the phoenix is a mythical bird made out of fire. What makes them special is their immortality. When a phoenix “dies”, it is then promptly reborn from the ashes even more majestic than before.

Here’s the lesson you can learn from the phoenix:

Failure is NEVER the end!

People usually give up way too soon! they might give it a few months at most. And when they fail at achieving your goals, they feel defeated. They take failure to mean that it’s not meant for them.

And they give up….

What you need to understand is that failure is the beginning of success, not the end!

Thomas Edison had hundreds of failed attempts before his lightbulb moment.

At your job, you’ve probably made numerous mistakes.

Top athletes have games they lost due to mistakes of their own.

Entrepreneurs will fail dozens of times before they finally create a business that succeeds.

Here’s what they all have in common:

Think about someone that you admire. Regardless of the person that you’re thinking of, I can assure you 1 thing: They have failed WAY more times than most people have even tried!

That’s why they’re successful! That’s why you know them!

Rise & Thrive means the following to me:

We will ALL make countless mistakes, and that’s fine! We need to rise above the ashes of our past failure to thrive. Just like a phoenix is reborn from the ashes, YOU will rise up 10 times stronger!

(Disclaimer: If you actually learn from your mistakes)

Fail, learn the lesson, adjust, try again, fail, and adjust course until successful!

The Minotaur

Here’s a monster you wouldn’t wanna encounter on your night time stroll:

So, this one has an interesting backstory:

Once upon a time, where was a power struggle. Minos was competing with his brothers for who would claim the throne. He asked the gods for a gift that shows the gods favored him over his brothers.

Poseidon, the god of the sea, sent him a magnificent white bull.

The bull was supposed to be sacrificed, but Minos thought it was so beautiful that he didn’t. He thought that Poseidon would accept another sacrifice instead, and boy was he WRONG about that!

As a punishment, Poseidon made his wife fall in love with the bull.

And that, kids, is where Minotaurs come from!

What You Can Learn From the Minotaur:

The Minotaur represents a monster that is half human and half bull.

We all have a similar divide within us:

We have our human side, which is logical and reasonable. This is the part of our mind that (over)thinks about the best things to do. It helps us solve complex problems and learn new skills to succeed. This part of us is represented by the neocortex.

But we also have the animal side of us.

Because our brains have evolved over millions of years, we still have older programs that run our mind. These come from the limbic system and what they call the “reptilian brain”. Because of this, we often act out of impulse instead of thought, which leads us away from our goals.

Here are some examples:

This is why personal development is so difficult!

Becoming your best self means that you quite literally have to fight against yourself and your impulses. You’ve got to resist a lot of temptations. You have to control the human animal inside you so your human side can be in the driver’s seat.

What does that mean?

Think about stuff like:

• Working to overcome limiting beliefs and resolve childhood trauma

• Learning to resist temptation and focus on the things that truly matter

• Building better habits that take you to the next level

• Spend time in introspection to figure out what you value most in life

• Go to the gym, even if the animal inside you is kicking and screaming

• Decide to do what’s right rather than what’s easy

• Doing that ONE thing you know you should, but that you put off because of fear. (You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you?)

You’re never going to be perfect at doing all of the right things, nobody is.

However, with enough time, practice and discipline you’ll improve!

Dragons

Perhaps one of the most commonly written about monsters.

And a lot of the stories share the same principle:

Usually, the dragon is guarding something. The shiny prince on the armored horse needs to fight a dragon to rescue the princess. The brave hobbit needs to steal a gem from it. The kingdom needs to fight one as it threatens to destroy everyone.

And of course, Hagrid would love to keep one as a pet.

Here’s what these stories can teach us:

Before we can acquire the great treasures of life, we need to face danger.

In real life, you won’t be burned to a crisp, impaled by a horny Minotaur or drowned by the mighty Kraken. However, you will have to face your own fears. You’ll have to take leaps of faith. Conquer the unknown, face setbacks, feel the despair of failure.

And through all these trials, you will find success and happiness in life!

Finding your dragon(s) is easy!

You will find it in the activities and choices that you’ve been avoiding.

But then you’ve got to slay them.

Or tame them.

Or do what this legend did:

One thing I can tell you is that it’s best to be prepared.

No matter what goals you set, it WILL be difficult! Go in with the attitude that it will be hard. Setting the wrong expectations will set you up for defeat. Expect it to be both more difficult & take longer to achieve than you wish it would take!

This way, you’ll be able to mentally endure the battle.

Keep your eyes on the goal.
Take small steps forward.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Train your discipline like a muscle.
Focus on learning new skills.
Go to bed with progress, not regret.

It’s okay to go slowly towards your goals, just don’t walk backwards!

Time to go slay some dragons my friend!

Bring some marshmallows, just in case.

The Biggest Trap in Personal Development

There’s a common pitfall when it comes to personal development.

I see people fall victim to it every single day… It’s a mistake that completely prevents them from ever making a real, lasting change in their lives.

So if you’re committed to your personal growth, listen to this lesson:

Odysseus and the Sirens

Let’s stick with the mythological theme of the day.

Have you ever heard about the story of the Greek hero Odysseus? If you haven’t, they’re great tales to read about. But of course, this is about your personal growth journey.

In this video I share Odysseus’ technique for handling distractions like a hero:

Freeing Yourself From the Monsters

We’ve talked about finding and slaying your dragon.

What’s yours?

If you like, you can reply to this email. I’m curious to hear what goals you’re working towards and what obstacles stand in your way.

Let me ask you a question:

What can you do right now to engage your dragon in combat?

That’s my challenge to you.

Before your head hits your pillow tonight, I’d like you to have done one of the things that scare you most. Are you up for the challenge? Or will you let the dragon push you into submission?

Will you let your human side win today, or the animal side?