MM#126--A Hero's Journey, part 2

Welcome to the theory to action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time to help you take action immediately, and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now, here's your host, David Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo minute. So in our last time chatting, we talked about the hero's journey, and where it came from, and why asking those deep difficult questions will always pay off. Well, today we're going to explore more around this hero's journey stuff. But first, let's make it clear. If you want to be a hero, you must decide to be a person who acts rather than a person who says I can't. You have to act, you can do it. You can act, it just takes some self awareness. And it takes you becoming, working on and becoming a person of good habits. developing good habits is a good thing. So we should get this notion of a limited mindset out of our heads. And remember limited mindsets versus fixed mindsets. The great Carol Dweck blew that all out of the water in her book mindsets. And if we haven't talked about them yet, and these Mojo minutes will then shame on me, because I'm remembering them right now. So I will get on that. 

If, if we have not talked about that I will research it. Once I get off this podcast. And if we have not talked about it, we will cover it. Because frankly, it is essential and it's extremely important. We understand we can and have to become human beings of action. That's the reason why we named the podcast theory to action. Action is our thang, as the young and hip, kids say today. Now that all said, once you have asked the question, that profound question, Who am I think of standing in front of the Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece where the words are sketched, know thyself. Once you spend time getting to know yourself and you have a pretty good idea of who you are, then you can consider who do you want to become. And with that, let's jump in to our feature book from last time and it'll be our feature book this time again, a field guide for the hero's journey, inspirational classics and practical advice from a serial entrepreneur and a entrepreneurial priest. And let's go to the book for our first poll quote, Reverend Sirico. From The Field Guide says in the early 1970s, the world was awash in movements of all sorts, spiritual, musical, political and cultural. It seemed the whole world was being turned upside down and a new hopeful and utopian horizon was in the offing. Now let's stop right there. Does that not sound like today? The world is upside down surely in 2022. It's been upside down since 2020. And there's movements of all sorts happening around us. One might say we are in a slow motion revolution. Because it truly does feel like the world has been upside down. 

But let's go back to the book. Again, this is Robert Sirico, Reverend Robert Sirico. Talking or writing rather, in my own personal journey, I found myself in the middle of much of this ambiance is talking about the 1970s again, one day coming in from around of picketing incidents, a group of friends gathered in the living room on my small apartment, just off Hollywood Boulevard. As we sit there read, as we sat there recounting the day, we spoke of our hopes, even if to my mind now too, simplistically or idealistically of what the world would be like quote when the revolution comes. One after another, we spoke of our dreams passionately laughingly. When my turn came, I said, when the revolution comes, we'll all shop at Gucci's. I was greeted with bewilderment by my jean clad Birkin stocked and petroleum oil scented to comrades, my friend and a radical feminist Trotskyites sitting appropriately, to my left looked over and said Gucci's, Robert, what we are working with we are working for the readers distribution of wealth, aren't we? Good cheese is a metaphor for a time when everyone will be able to buy quality goods and services at accessible prices. That was my argument. Silence then again, and but Gucci's I don't think you're a real socialist? How often do we, by an unplanned word or action or choice, reveal our true selves, if not to ourselves immediately, then to those keen observers, who know us best? That perceptive one word question and asked of me that summer day, cut to the heart of my identity of who I thought I was. And it stuck with me over the coming years, even as a transformation of self awareness began to take shape. Initially, this began with reading some books on economics that helped me discover that the fundamental error of my socialism was anthropological. In nature, it misunderstood human beings in their need to be creative, and free. The trajectory, the trajectory of the ideas, that this will lead me to, would lead me on to some of my earliest assumptions I had learned at home. And then the faith I had learned as a child from the sisters, and those catechism classes about human dignity and transcendence, unquote. 

So I wanted to share that fascinating story with you because I always find it just amazing for some of the turnabouts of people that have lived through the 60s and 70s, and thought they had identified correctly, the best way to live to create and absorb the most happiness in life. And it turns out, they were radically wrong. And I always love these fly on the wall stories, where we can be sitting among the most radical revolutionaries in the late 60s and early 70s. And hear now from a Catholic priests, Robert Sirico. As he tells his story, it's just an incredibly insightful, the turnabout and certainly it is a great nugget of wisdom for us too. Because the nugget is just because you're part of a group of folks that you think you belong to, don't be surprised that the more you discover of yourself, the more you find out that you're not one of those, to truly know thyself is always a good nugget of wisdom to remember. Robert, listen to his inner voice, define his true calling, and as he said, to understand the fundamental air of my socialism was anthropological in nature. Indeed, it was socialism misunderstands human beings at their core, must understand their need to be creative and free, as Robert pointed out, and ultimately, it gets wrong. Frankly, it gets completely wrong with the human person. 

Because the human person should be seen with universal dignity and transcendence, socialism Marxism, communism, these are all the same words that describe ultimate tyranny over human beings. They have been great leaps in great power grabs that have resulted in millions and millions of people dying. I mean, if you need some examples, let's just name a few. China's Communist Revolution totaled 45 million people dying. Nobody talks about that. From 1950 to 1962, Mao Zedong, led to the mass led his revolution to the mass slaughter of 45 million people. Mao's Great Leap Forward policies resulted in all those people dying. It easily makes it the largest episode of mass murderer ever recorded. And it's still going to this dying day millions of Muslim Uyghurs are in work camps. Well, let's call them for what they are their concentration camps. I think the Chinese Communist Party calls them reeducation. camps, whatever you want to call them, they are imprisoned. We hear just horrible stories that are being leaked out about what they're put through. No matter what their religion is.
Every human being has universal dignity and transcendence. Frankly, for the CCP for the Chinese Communist Party to continue to defend it, it's disgusting and horrific. And in fact, talking about revolutions and communism, there was a couple of revolutions within Russia, one which resulted in an incredible famine in the Ukraine. Y

ou've heard about that country recently in the news, I'm sure. roughly 5 million Ukrainians were starved to death in a two year period. That was horrific. Certainly need to pray for that country of Ukraine. During its present upheaval right now. Then you have the Russian Revolution of 1917. And 1923 is million as 10 people were killed there. We have the Killing Fields of Cambodia, 1975 to 79, two and a half million people murdered. That was anywhere from 15 to 33% of the total population of Cambodia. Certainly can't forget Nazism, 1941 and 1945, killed over 6 million Jews, roughly two thirds of the Jewish population of Europe. There's crazy people started a world war with their fanatical thinking. And we should do more to cover that war. World War Two I'm speaking about, we should do more to cover that we're often. So there's great lessons to be learned and studying these terrible political systems of communism, Marxism and socialism. If we need to keep going, we should certainly include North Korea, with its untold number of killings, since they took over the 1950s. Cuba under Fidel Castro started in 1959. And our modern day just in 1999, it's still going on Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, and now under Nicolas Maduro, at least 1000s of deaths were under those two brutal regimes. 

And we should talk about Venezuela has an incredible history. Certainly, there was no need for socialism ever to come to that country. It had plenty of resources have plenty of oil, and socialism was ushered in, and it just completely tore the country apart. It's so tragic. What happens when we have these major power grabs. Hundreds of 1000s people were starving and dying of malnutrition. 

So obviously, I got on a rant there, but I'm passionate about these terrible policies. And it just seems most people forget the horror of these evil political systems. And let's face it, that's what they are, they are evil. They are always searching for this faceless pie in the sky utopia. And sadly, it never becomes a utopia it's alway always becomes a nightmare for millions and millions of people around the world. Nevertheless, let's get back to the book. So for starting out our hero's journey, journey, and as we are inserting ourselves into our own hero's journey, which is the important part. Father Sirico does give us some very practical questions to ask ourselves. 

He says, quote, who do you want to become? Sometimes it's useful to talk with people who see things from a different perspective. As you consider your life goals, it may be good idea to visit someone elderly, ask him or her about their, his or her greatest joys and their greatest regrets. Then imagine that you are very old and a younger person has come to ask you those same questions you just asked. Write down what you would like to be able to say, what would you like to be known for? What would you like to have accomplished? What sort of person would you like to have become? Because these questions are very important, they help you begin with your journey. They help you begin your journey with the end clearly in mind, unquote. So there's another great nugget of wisdom, these three questions to ask ourselves and doesn't it perfectly done Have tale with our previous Mojo minute on starting with the end in mind writing your own eulogy. 

And I love it when two books overlap and their wisdom that they give to us, it means that we're getting closer to the truth of things, two different perspectives and yet both come very close to offering the same concept or idea. 

So, in today's Mojo minute, just like in father servicos case, don't be afraid of receiving answers that cut right to the heart of your identity. All often, that's God's grace, helping to shape you into the person you should become. And we have to cooperate with that grace. God gave us ultimate freedom, free will. So we as the creatures we have to cooperate with that grace. And then we can certainly be sure to remember these squeeze three questions Who would you like to be known for? Or what would you like to be known for? What would you like to have accomplished? And what sort of person would you like to have become? And as we begin to insert ourselves into our own hero's journey, these questions and more importantly, these answers to these most vital questions will certainly help us along our way. So here's some virtual high fives as we take our first step on the hero's journey.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this theory to action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at T Mojo academy.com where we have everything we discussed in this podcast as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on