Each One Teach Ten
Today I'm finishing the Hero's Journey, but repeating the first step in MAGIC. There is a meta-lesson here: applying two different models to a problem enables you to "brainstorm" and "mastermind" even if you are alone!
In the HJ, step 10 is "the student becomes the teacher." Also "the return to the village with the elixir" and so forth. This is a recognition that life is not a circle, it is a spiral. You end one cycle and begin the next, one level up or down, depending on your energetic investment.
Monday is "M" day with MAGIC: Map, or Model.
And here is a GREAT opportunity to take a step back and look at how this works with martial arts instructors, parents, and marketers.
Ideally, you learn as you go through life. And while lots of people feel they haven't learned, ask them what they'd say to their own younger selves. They always have something to say.
So…here is the trick. Remember the "Allies and Powers" step? That is when the Hero journeys to speak to the Old Man On The Mountain, or flies to Degobah to learn from Yoga. But the Old Man or Yoda is just someone who completed cycles of their own journey, and can therefore share maps of the territory. They have escaped the maze, and know the how and what of it.
This person, the one who has escaped the maze you are currently traversing, is EXACTLY who you want to find. And, once YOU have escaped that maze, you have a moral obligation to teach others, if others taught you.
THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER THE WORLD. The actual fruit of your experience. Not your theories as much as your PRACTICES. The things you DO, the path you WALK every day. Then, be honest about your results. If they like your destination, you are simply pointing out the path. They ALWAYS have to do their own work. But you CAN point out shorter, more direct paths. Or sometimes, awaken them to the fact that they have already arrived.
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So a martial arts instructor who has earn a ranking, gained fitness, learned to deal with fear, survived street confrontations or won tournaments has something to offer people who want those things.
A parent shares their hard-won experience, their WISDOM of the cycles of life, with their children, who will, to protect their own egos, reject what parents say until they get into the world and have a real chance to test. Then, quite typically, if you've told them the truth they come back around.
A MARKETER…simply shares the story of how THEY solved whatever problem their product or service is designed to solve, and offers them a low-risk chance to experience it, to see for themselves. Money back guarantees, trial periods, free samples and so forth. IF they believe you can help them, and the benefits outweigh the perceived cost, add a little time pressure and bingo, you have a sale.
You FINISHING a cycle of your journey gives you the power to help others on theirs. Simple as that.
Seek those who have completed a cycle you are approaching. Even if they are 100% honest, you will still have to modify what they say. But the closer they match your own journey, the less modification you'll need.
So…for me, I wanted to be an SF writer. There were no black male SF writers in the entire world, so far as I could determine (Chip Delaney had left the field. For the record, he is clearly and honestly above my level).
So what did I do? I knew Octavia Butler, who had part of my problem, the black aspect. And verified that she was using a MAP of success I knew well: Think And Grow Rich. Great. So I applied it to the SF writers I studied. But then I applied it to successful black artists and writers. WHERE THOSE TWO CIRCLES OVERLAPPED, I HAD MY MAP.
And then I just worked right there. Every day. For DECADES. I sought mentors, and found Larry Niven, giving him my honest loyalty. Wrote my fingers to the bone. Controlled my fear by learning to keep a positive attitude no matter what. Clarified my goals and created sub-goals to have daily "wins." And constantly refined my sense of who I was…who I AM. Really. At the core.
Then…chop wood, carry water. That is the power of an accurate map, and you can only get one from someone who has taken the journey. Know this, deeply, and you will understand a powerful secret of life.
"Each one teach one" was the motto of the Black Panther Party. I suggest "Each one teach TEN."
Namaste
Steve
