It’s a simple strategy that experts say can help you find more meaning in your life.
This is a narrative called the “hero’s journey” (also known as the “monomyth”) that is present in famous films such as Harry Potter, Star Wars or Batman, but which, according to various researchers, does not only work for cinematographic stories or superhero comics.
According to research recently published by the American Psychological Association, when people begin to see their daily lives as “heroic quests” they report less depression and are better able to cope with challenges.
The goal is to transform the way you see your own story. Believe yourself the protagonist who can emerge victorious from a decisive crisis and return with the lesson learned. “He is so powerful that we can tell people, in a very specific way, how to think about his life. Thus, they come up with better mechanisms to deal with problems and the effects are enormous,” Kurt Gray, one of the leaders of the research and professor of social psychology at the University of North Carolina, explains to BBC Mundo.
What are the steps?
First, a little context.
The narrative structure of the “hero’s journey” is not new.
It was first identified in the 1940s by Joseph Campbell, an American writer who dedicated himself to researching mythology and comparative religion.
Campbell, influenced by the psychoanalyst Carl Jung, a disciple of Sigmund Freud, wrote the work “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” in which he suggested that human beings are programmed to make sense of the world around us, seeking a satisfactory narrative.
His studies were applied by a wide variety of theorists and continue to be used to this day by different experts.
The author presented 17 elements of the “hero’s journey” that Gray, together with Benjamin Rogers, assistant professor at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, and other academics involved in the research, summarized and condensed into 7 for their research titled: “Seeing your story as a ‘hero’s journey’ increases the meaning of life.”
1. A main protagonist (which is you)
2. A change of circumstance (something happens in your life, for example, embarking on an adventure that does not turn out as you expected)
3. A search for the solution (try to find answers… how can you get out of the crisis?)
4. Supporting allies (they can be your friends, family or anyone who is on your side)
5. A challenge (something you intend to do)
6. A personal transformation (what you learn to achieve the challenge)
7. And a legacy as a final result (that is, the contribution of your decisions to your environment)
More prosperity and less depression
Through four separate studies, researchers collected the life stories of more than 1,200 people in the United States.
Then, they examined their stories for the 7 elements of the “hero’s journey.”
“We found that people who had more elements in their life stories reported more meaning in life, more prosperity, and less depression,” the researchers note in the journal Scientific American.
“These ‘heroic’ people reported a clearer sense of self than other participants, as well as more new adventures, strong goals, good friends, etc.,” they add.
Later, scholars developed a “restoration” intervention in which they prompted people to retell their story, this time with elements of a “hero’s journey.”
“We confirmed that this restorative intervention worked: it helped people see their life as a hero’s journey, which in turn made that life seem more meaningful.”
“Recipients of the intervention also reported greater well-being and became more resilient in the face of personal challenges,” the study states.
It is not a “fantasy world”
In conversation with BBC Mundo, academic Kurt Gray explains that, with this technique, they are not telling people to “deceive themselves or imagine that they are Harry Potter.”
“We’re not telling you to imagine you’re in a fantasy world. What we are saying is that you see the events of your life in a different way,” she indicates.
The researcher gives a simple example: “Imagine that you are awake at night because your children are crying. You can think that that doesn’t make any sense or you can say: ‘my story is that of a father or mother who is trying to make my child a better person, I am starting a family,’ and that is the ultimate goal.”
“It’s something like remodeling or restoring your life,” he adds.
With this structure in mind, experts say, it is easier to stay motivated and “challenge yourself.”
And although you may never become a real hero, you can help improve your story and those around you.
Do you dare, then, to apply the “hero’s journey” for 2024?
Keep reading:
* The aspects of your life that improve as you get older
* “Breadcrumbing”: the method that some use to manipulate others by taking advantage of some emotional shortcomings
* How to help a child stop being shy
