What is Personal Mythology?

In Personal Mythology you have all the same epic archetypes as classic mythology, but we are talking about the ones inside you. For instance, we’ve all had a villain in our life. Sometimes the villain is a person, sometimes it’s a task you really don’t want to do, or even your own inner critic. You also have heroes, treasures and all the rest.

Let’s look at a story of when you stood up to a bully in school. You may have used this event to decide I am a defender, or I’m the Batman of this school, or I’m strong like a bear, or even, I’m bad because I used violence. The story you choose creates a new myth.

Personal myths are all your beliefs, fears, rules, loves and more. Together, these crystallized beliefs form constellations you will subconsciously navigate your life with. With the I’m a defender myth, you may find yourself stepping up to risky challenges, that perhaps you’d not have engaged in with the I’m bad myth. And in doing so, you will even further solidify the myth, perhaps to the point of heroism, or even villainy.

Do you see how awesomely metaphorical and enchanting a person’s mythos can be? This is what I’m referring to when I say there is a universe inside you, and why I’m so excited help you find it.

Imagine in your life how many relationships, goals, and more are being driven by these unseen myths. Discovering, designing, and empowering them is the greatest adventure of your life. When you create them you are writing the story of your personal mythology, the story of who you are, which will drive what you buy, to what music you listen to, and even who you love.

We use personal myths to guide our decisions, how we react, and how we make sense of the world. When you say or think I’m kind of a geek, or I’m sporty, or the color green is the most relaxing, or the world is unfair, you are writing chapters of your mythos. If a person who believes I’m lazy is told they have to help move heavy objects for hours, how do you think they will feel about it? What about a person who believes work helps people? Both beliefs are true; one is helpful.

This is why it’s important to learn and respect other people’s mythos. It is their truth. But why is it called a myth? Aren’t myths untrue? Not always. In Latin, the word myth means “story”.

You call it your mythos because your subconscious doesn’t operate on logical, rigid calculations; it operates on metaphor, story, and imagery. If you want to really discover and communicate with your deepest self, learn the language of your subconscious.

You call it your personal mythology because, just like other mythologies, it is full of archetypal beings, events, and objects just bursting with deep meanings, life lessons, and guidance about your place in the world.

You call it your personal myths because it is the epic story of your life. You acknowledge the fact that you are the writer and author of that story – your beliefs are just your perspective. You have the ability to rewrite it. Every story has infinite interpretations and yours is just one version about what took place. Instead of telling yourself this is who I am, you now know this is the story I’ve TOLD myself of who I am.

Every life event is an opportunity to create or change our mythos. The difference between you and others is that you are learning to do it consciously – on purpose.

When you tell a story, people hold you to the idea that you ought to be telling the facts. That’s fair. But personal myths do not operate within the philosophy of true and false or right and wrong. Personal myths operate with the philosophy of what I call “true for you”, so it’s hard or impossible for people to dispute them. For me, the color black represents dreams, mystery, and magic. There is no logical argument that can change my personal myth. Only I can do that.

Entire governments and mega-corporations have beliefs, fears, and values at their core, driving every aspect of how they operate. “Justice” is nothing but a belief, it is not a scientific fact, and yet we could not imagine a world without it.

The struggles you have faced in life are a fact. But the story you tell yourself about those struggles is what will determine your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. The story you tell about your life is more powerful than the events themselves. By far.

Imagine someone who believes their government is corrupt. This belief affects their entire idea of how to think, feel, and behave, including their trust in science and laws. Their mythos completely overrides something that many others may trust in.

How Does Personal Mythology Benefit Me?

Think about it this way —how many of your problems are rooted in your mind? Nearly all of them: stress, confidence, sleep, dieting, relationships, parenting, being happier, or more romantic, you name it. So if you were offered the power to change your mind as you like, would you take it? Of course. Who doesn’t want control over who they wish to be?

How Does it Work?

Discover, Design, Empower is the process. As an introductory text, this book mostly focuses on discovery, but keep this framework in mind as you go.

With MyMythos you will…

Discover your personal myths through specially designed questions, exercises, and rituals that get to the core of who you are.

Design new myths by working with your stories and looking at things in different perspectives to create new beliefs.

Empower your mythos by integrating it, building rituals around it, and employing it in daily life.

Doing this will bridge the fantasies of your subconscious out to the ‘real world’. Remember…

Stories are real and powerful. Be mindful of the stories you keep inside you. Decorate your inner space to suit your favorite self, take control of your life story, see through to the meanings of things; giving you the power to influence the world around you, and the world within you – to live mythically.