Personal myths are not false beliefs. They are not the stories people tell others to explain their circumstances and behavior. No! A personal myth is the central story behind the various episodes of one’s life. Personal myths, like cultural myths, are stories that never were, but are always happening. Their impact is profound because they operate largely outside our conscious awareness.
““The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stands this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue waiting for the traffic light to change.””
A personal myth is the lens through which we perceive the world. So if a man sees himself like an ‘Indentured Servant’ at work, it will shape the way he thinks, feels, and acts - his reality.
“A man is always a teller of tales, he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens to him through them, and he tries to live his life as if he were telling a story. ”
Myths address the broad concerns of our lives:
But, a myth is also a map that needs to be regularly updated – because the terrain is always changing. People take new jobs, enter new relationships, lose a loved one... Old myths which were once helpful to us may now be getting in our way. Recognizing a limiting myth, through coaching, can allow us to correct the course of our lives.
But, why do we need a new personal myth?
A new personal myth creates alignment and engagement by giving us a new identity and painting a vivid picture of the future we desire - in line with our values. It mobilizes our imagination and allows us to cross the limits of what we currently consider possible or reasonable.
A consciously elected myth is the bridge to a future self where we maximize our personal and professional potential. So, a woman currently held back by the judgment of others and self may find inspiration for transformation from the myth of an iconoclast like Jane Fonda.
Who would you rather be?
Everybody can be the hero of one story: Theirs!
Pottan Theyyam (manifestation of Shiva), symbolizing destruction of evil and regeneration