Dune 2 has finally come out and the hype is real. I saw it in glorious IMAX and was blown away. Everything about Dune is what makes going to the movies such a joy.
I walked out with a renewed appreciation for storytelling which inspired me to write this. Now look, I am no Dune scholar. I know there are many passionate dune-heads who may read and disagree with this, and that’s okay.
Since The Hero’s Journal is all about being a hero, overcoming the inner shadow, and accomplishing goals I’ve been thinking about the parallels to this story all week.
So, without further adune (I’m sorry) here are my 3 takeaways
Humans are story powered machines. Stories are precious and powerful (like spice) because they inform how we navigate the world (also like spice). And the more times a story is repeated, the more powerful it is. In Dune, Paul Atreides leverages story to rise to power among the native people of Arrakis through a manufactured prophesy.
Our story-powered brains tend to hear a story, make a conclusion, and look for small validations that this story is true. Dune uses Stilgar to showcase this trait. In a rather comedic sense, he finds ways to confirm Paul a messianic figure every chance he gets. Even though the story is a fake prophesy, it’s still powerful enough to give Paul influence.
All that to say. When it comes to the narrative of your story, you are both Paul and the Fremen. Not only do you control the narrative, but you also hear the story as if it was told to you and not created by you. For instance, If you say you are bad at math, you will avoid learning about engineering and computer science. If you say you have a sweet tooth, you will allow yourself to have no self-control around sweets. Conversely, if you tell yourself you are an athlete, you will take care of your body.
In other words, changing our narrative is only a matter of controlling the story we tell. It’s not even about the reality of our situation. A non-Dune example:
Pauls north star is revenge. Which is why his rise to power feels so icky. The bedrock of his narrative is rooted getting pay back for the betrayal of House Atreides. Denis Villeneuve the director of Dune said “Frank Herbert was very concerned that people saw ‘Dune’ as a celebration of revenge.”
This reminded me about finding the right motivation for your quest. Because when it comes to being the hero of your story, revenge is a poor motivator.
The problem with revenge is you’re making your story about somebody else. It takes your main-character power away by forcing focus onto someone else. We see Paul slowly turn into the villain of Dune as he takes the path towards vengeance. But revenge poisons the mind without ever fixing the original offense. And a true hero accepts reality as is, and has the courage to create a new story, not edit an old one. Make sure the north star of you quest writes a new story.
I’ve heard the comment “what about the villains journal haha” more times than I care to count. And my response is always the same, “villains are the heroes of their own story.” Is it a bit cheesy? Yes. But I genuinely believe that great stories need believable villains. And for that to happen the villain must believe they are doing something heroic. In Dune, we see Paul become a villain. It is sad, but it’s one of the main themes of Herberts legendary book.
It’s a good frame for us to remember when interacting with those around us, especially when we don’t agree with their journey. The best thing we can do is be an ally towards one another. Or a giant spice worm. That works too.
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If your love for sc-fi was ressurected by Dune 2 like mine was. You should check out the Galaxy of Istoria storyline. It's our love letter to the sc-fi genre, and if it doesn't help you improve your life we will refund you.
- Nick
]]>So this year, we are doing something that we have never done before. We will have a planner on our website, January 26th to be precise. If you have been following us for a while, you have probably heard us refer to The Hero’s Journal as a journal/planner hybrid thousands of times. Well, we felt it was time to create a planner that was designed specifically for a week-view and for organizing the events of our lives.
Probably the most surprising thing about this release is that we are launching the planner on our website at the end of January. Now, there are a few reasons for this, the first being that we launched this project on Kickstarter back in June of 2023, and we had production delay after delay so they didn’t arrive in our warehouse until the end of December. Obviously, if we had these available earlier, we would have them ready for all of you heroes.
The second reason, and the one I think is more important, is that as a company we do not overly concern ourselves with New Year’s Resolutions. If they work for you, and the new year is something that spurs positive change in your life, all the power to you. We, however, do not concern ourselves with them because we believe that change can arise at any point in your life.
We believe that there is an inner hero inside of everyone, and that at any moment you have the opportunity to embrace that inner hero and set out on whichever quest may lie in front of you. Our mission is not just to make inspired products, our mission is to embrace the inner hero inside of every hero and to create tools and a communal space to show everyone how to embrace their inner hero.
So, we are basically releasing a planner in February. Is that the wrong move? Maybe. The Hero’s Planner is undated and is ready to join you on your journey regardless of the month, day, or hour you decide to set out.
Happy Planning,
Kyle
]]>During the hecticness of this time, a lot of us (mostly me) can get swooped up in the flurry of flights, grocery shopping with the mob, and of course rushing to the computer for Black Friday.
Spending time with your most trusted allies is one of the greatest joys the year has to offer. These times are ripe for instant memories and bonding for you and your allies, but don’t let it be a time where you neglect yourself.
There will be a voice in the back of your head that will say that you can take care of yourself once the hubbub dies down and you return to a sense of normalcy. Although it is true that this is just a season, the habit of taking care of yourself may be built during the time where you have space to reflect, but it is tested during the time where you have to intentionally take a moment for yourself.
This time of the year proves to us, here at The Hero’s Journal, the truth of one of our favorite Annie Dillard quotes, “A schedule defends against chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days.” During the holidays, it can feel like you are spinning many different plates all at one time, and the chaos that ensues can be all encompassing. One thing that I have learned first hand, is that not only does the chaos consume your life for a season, but it also takes you away from the thing you value most: Quality Time with those who matter the most to you.
Obviously, we believe that The Hero’s Journal is the perfect companion for whatever adventures lie ahead, but if you have a system that works for you, do not lose that during the whirlwind that the end of the year brings for all of us.
Happy Questing!
Kyle
]]>2.) When do I get charged after backing the Kickstarter?
Your chosen payment method will be charged immediately after the planner’s funding campaign ends, and only if the project has reached its funding goal.
3.) What if the Kickstarter campaign doesn't reach it's funding goal?
If the planner doesn't reach its funding goal, your chosen payment method will not be charged, and you will not be charged anything.
4.) When will I receive my Hero’s Planner and add-ons/stretch goal goodies?
While we can’t make any promises/guarantees due to unpredictable freight shipping around the holiday season, our goal is to get these planners and all associated add-ons/stretch goal items in your hands before the start of 2024.
5.) Help! I need to update my shipping address.
Keep your eyes peeled for an address verification survey that Kickstarter will be sending to you after the campaign ends. You’ll be able to update your shipping address there. If you miss the email, or are having trouble updating it via the provided form - send us a Hero Service inquiry by emailing Support@TheHerosJournal.co.
Like many, I’ve always loved The Lord of the Rings. The books, the movies, the video games, the Funko pops and *fingers crossed* the Amazon TV series that’s being made.
Although the magic of Tolkien’s work is possibly the most influential piece of storytelling I’ve ever encountered, it’s relevance has started to fade as I have progressed into my professional life. As a professional who frequents Middle Earth, I challenged myself to see this fantasy world not as something entirely separate from my ordinary job but rather a source of applicable advice.
Despite the fact I’m sporting dress shirts and not Dwarven mithril forged deep in the mines of Khazad-dûm, here are 5 quotes from LOTR you can take to work with you.
1. “To bear a ring of power is to be alone. This task was appointed to you. And if you do not find a way, no one will.”
— Galadriel
Your career path is a journey, and the road to your dream job will sometimes be a lonely one. But no one will ever care about your career more than you will. It’s important to remember that people are by default paying attention to themselves more than they are paying attention to you. So, giving them insight, and maybe even a role within your journey is a great way to win an ally.
2. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” — Gandalf
The skill of time management is one of those that’s almost never worth putting on a resume, yet almost always an essential skill of a quality employee. Ask yourself every day what the most important task you have that day is, and attack it first. Gandalf would be proud.
3. “Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.”
— Aragorn
Aragorn reminds us that working for the approval of a boss or coworker is a losing game. But doing the small things, especially when there is no praise involved for you is exactly the kind of thing that in 3 years will elevate you above your peers now. The most noticeable work over long periods of time is always the small things, not the big things.
4. “It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.”
— Sam Gamgee
Failing fast is one of many buzzy terms that gets thrown around in professional settings these days. It’s because it’s best to be a person who makes mistakes quickly and then improves quickly. The biggest mistake of all? failing to start. There is a popular quote by Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, which can be associated with what Sam has said here: “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”
5. “Shortcuts make long delays.”
— Pippin Took
The longest stage of our lives is by far our adult career. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. The people who put in the work day in and day out and don’t cut corners are the ones who will last. There are no shortcuts to retirement that deliver on their promise. Although the shortcuts are tempting, especially when the long road is dark, keep what Gimli said in mind, “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
Nick Vitellaro
Being in Sales is a tough gig. Rejection is a guarantee and failure is the pillar in which you stand on. You get hung up on, turned down, and just flat out ignored.
(Oh, and those are the good days. And if you’re in sales, you know exactly what I’m talking about).
But it’s not all bad. There are commission checks, fun conversations, and friends who are down in the trenches right next to you every day.
As a salesman myself, I use whatever I can to inspire myself on the daily. Growing up I loved the Chronicles of Narnia stories and as I got older I fell in love with a few quotes from C.S. Lewis that help me trudge through the rejections and failures that I and many other Salespeople see on a daily basis.
While it may seem strange at first, C.S. Lewis and good fiction in general are my secret weapon as a sales person. I mean think about it: being better at sales is rarely an issue of knowledge. If you’re in sales, you probably already understand the product. You probably already know the process. You probably already know how to pick up a phone and dial a number.
So while everyone else is reading the latest New York Times business bestseller, I’m picking up a well-worn copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Why? Because being good at sales isn’t about knowledge. Being good at sales is about courage. It’s about character. It’s about digging deep and doing things that I’m afraid of, picking myself up again and again.
And very few (if any) authors teach courage better than C.S. Lewis
1. We are what we believe we are.
I am sure everyone has heard the phrase, “people only buy from people they like.” I agree, and I take it to another level and say, “people don’t like people who are trying to be something or someone they are not.” Being myself is the only person I can be so I may as well sell as that person too. If I believe I’m a shady salesperson, then I probably will become one. If I believe I can really help the people I’m selling to, then I probably can.
2. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
Becoming a top salesperson requires a lot of work, there is no way around that. Many of us see the high producers in our offices and want to be them right away, but we forget that there was a journey to get to that point, and one of the reasons they are so successful is because they fought through that journey.
3. Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
This reminds me of another C.S. Lewis Quote (I won’t even charge you for the extra one!) where he defines integrity, “doing the right thing when no one is watching.” A characteristic of sales organizations is high employee turnover. A lot of that can be attributed to not having the courage to get back up and stare the daunting tasks in the face, and being willing to put in the extra effort even when the boss isn't looking. Whether it’s picking up the phone to make a cold call or taking the extra time to do the right thing, courage is everything.
4. Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.
Fail fast has become a popular saying in the business world as of late, but that is only because it has strong merit to it. Find out what doesn’t work in your sales process, and continue to iterate you have a robust process designed to sell. Also, think about Thomas Edison, he knew 1000 different ways not to make a lightbulb. But you only have one in your house. Keep moving. Keep failing.
5. We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
There are also times where you think there are aspects of your sales process that are perfect, but you aren’t getting anywhere with any of your clients. The only time wasted is when you know something is broken and you refuse to fix it.
6.Reasonis the natural order oftruth;but imagination is the organ of meaning.
Having fun is good too. We can often get in ruts where we believe the only way out is putting on the mask of professionalism and powering through. If you can have fun with your clients, they will like you, and must I state the common sales quote about people liking you again? Also, if you are using your imagination and having fun; it makes the job more fun too.
7. I'm tall, fat, rather bald, red-faced, double-chinned, black-haired, have a deep voice, and wear glasses for reading.
Never. Take. Yourself. Too. Seriously.
- Kyle Cole
The days following the passing of Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and the passengers 7 others who passed away have been strangely difficult. Strange in the sense that I didn’t know any of them personally, difficult in the sense that Kobe has always been somebody I’ve looked up to.
There are hundreds of lessons to learn from Kobe’s work ethic, passion, and love for his family. Most of us know him for being one of the greatest of all time in a sport full of stars—but Kobe was so much more than a basketball player, and he would be the first person to tell you. In his 2016 Espys address, he shared a quote from a high school English teacher that has stuck with me for a long time:
“Rest at the End, Not the Middle”
By most of our definitions, Kobe had reached the end. In fact, he’d reached the end 5 times over—winning 5 championships in his storied career. But he wasn’t done. But for Kobe, his quest was never just to be the best basketball player he could be. He expressed his true quest at the 2016 Espy’s: “My next dream is to be honored one day for inspiring the next generation of athletes to have a dream, sacrifice for it, and never ever rest in the middle.”
The reason it’s so hard for me to mourn the loss of Kobe isn’t that we lost one of the greatest Basketball players of all time—we lost him years ago when he retired. Rather, it’s because Kobe’s quest was so much more than Basketball. When his basketball career was all said and done, he was not consumed with being known as the greatest to ever do it. Rather, he was consumed with the desire to move basketball and athletics forward by inspiring kids to pursue and achieve their dreams. The lessons learned from Kobe and other heroes like him are that the goals we set for ourselves are grounded in something that we truly care about.
Kobe transcended so many other athletes, thinkers, and famous people of our time in that he transcended the very reason he became famous: basketball. He knew that becoming an amazing basketball player serviced his higher purpose—inspiring the next generation. And though it is tragic, it is fitting that he passed away serving that purpose, taking his daughter to a basketball game.
So if you, like me, are mourning Kobe without really feeling like you are allowed to because you don’t know him—then honor him by doing what he did: faithfully attending to the quest, the higher calling laid out before you. And even when the material wealth comes, or the fame, or the common markings of it, remind yourself of his words: rest at the end, not the middle.
]]>Today marks an exciting benchmark for us, we sold out of our 2nd shipment of Journals!
Aside from the obvious monetary benefit of this milestone, what it means to us is that there are about 3000 journals out there in the world helping people tell a better story about themselves.
In May of 2018, we set out to create a tool that would enable us to live better stories.
We aspired to make something magical even if no one even wanted to buy it.
Fast-forward to February 2019, we launched the Kickstarter and we were overwhelmed with support and encouragement. 277 pledges and our product was born.
After a long few months, the journals arrived at our doorstep, all 1000 of them. The opportunity was exciting, but the daunting task of moving over 600 journals on the open market was terrifying.
Much to our surprise, a month later we sold out of all of our inventory, after countless trips to the post office, early mornings and late night packing sessions, and endless papercuts, we sold all 1000 journals.
Filled with moxy, we ordered 2000 more journals, which is mathematically two times as many as our original order, but it feels 30x larger.
While waiting for the new shipment to arrive, we opened up pre-orders to see if we could get a couple sales before arrival. Again, we were absolutely blown away by the popularity we garnered and sold over 800 journals before they ever reached our doorstep!
Hoping to make our lives a little easier, and offer a better product for our customer, we linked up with FedEx to try and expedite the thorn in our side, shipping. Shout out to David from FedEx because we were able to work it out to offer 2-day shipping on most of our orders (sorry bulk!).
December 5th, the second shipment arrives, we had to take time off from work to pack the 800 orders that we received over the two months we had pre-orders open. With help from David, our roommates, and the super friendly and helpful FedEx drivers, we fulfilled all of the orders in 3 days. For perspective, it took us 4 weeks to fulfill the 277 orders from Kickstarter.
The best part about the journey that we are on right now, is that through all of the fears that we have had to face to get to this point now, we have grown and our community of friends, family, and fellow heroes have come around us and supported us.
Selling out of our second order is not the only big news. As of January 31, 2020, both Nick and Kyle will be working full-time on helping people tell better stories by fostering our community and developing new products that will help spur on sequel after sequel.
It is just the beginning, but what a beginning it has been.
To Adventure!
Nick and Kyle
]]>In all my time, and all my travels, I’ve heard a lot of theories, ideas, and plans, all related to one underlying question—how to make the world a better place for the people in it. Today, I want to share my answer:
Now trust me, I’ve heard a lot of ideas about what we can fix. I’ve even made a few suggestions myself. But today, I’m not so much suggesting something as I am prescribing it, not so much advocating for a certain idea so much as I am advocating for what you should do with the ideas you already have.
There’s a quote from Edmund Burke that I think people don’t get quite right, when he said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” I most often hear it used as if the world is full of villains, and the only thing necessary for them to reign supreme is for heroes to not square up to them. And there is some truth to that, but I think of it a little differently.
The world is a confusing place. It’s full of all sorts of different people, people with different ideas, some of which, yes, are evil. But I think the real beauty of that quote is that Burke says “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil…” and not “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil people.” I think it has a lot less to do with some villain out in the world, and much more to do with ourselves. Yes, the world is a confusing place. And in that confusion, it’s tempting to sit back and do nothing, to try to wait it all out until it makes a little bit more sense.
And I think, when we give into that temptation, the temptation to do nothing, we take one step further away from the hero and one step closer to the shadow. And it’s my prescription to you today, the thing I’m asking, almost begging you to do: become an active part of your world. Because the world doesn’t become a better place when you think the exact thoughts and feel the exact feelings as me, the world becomes a better place when you are a more active participant in it.
May the road rise up to meet you!
The Mentor
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