Humans are extremely susceptible to myths. I am not saying this to attack any particular religious view, or as a way to encourage the manipulation of others. I am saying this so that you can trick yourself. To put this thought in a single sentence, you need to create a myth and then become that myth as a way to inspire, motivate and convince yourself of your future destiny. So in essence, you need to be the myth.
Of course that assumes that you have a myth to become! So if you are reading this, consider this essential question – what is your myth? Who will you become? What legendary person of fame will you invent? What will be your equivalent of Ragnar Lodbrok? Your Tokugawa Yoshimune? If you were to become someone great, what would you become? What would be your super power that those that speak of you would exaggerate? I heard that she could…. I remember a story when he…. Will they be speaking of you as if you were a legend?
I remember one time many years ago, where I adopted this model. I decided to become a certain type of person and yes it indeed motivate me. A few years went by, and I heard another person describing back to me some crazy thing that I did, and it had taken on a life of its own. It was exaggerated way beyond the actual act. In fact the person rehearsing this back to me did not know that it was me that they were describing. I started to correct them, about how the story really happened but they refused and with eyes full of wonder described to me in full detail what actually had happened. I was astonished! I have often times thought about that, and realized much later that this is a behavior that humans have done for centuries.
There is probably something you have done at one point, that had an impression on someone. They then share the story, add a little flavor to it and before you know it you have become a legend. In fact, the mythical person they describe probably will resemble the source very little by the time many years have gone by. The more interesting, more exciting and dynamic the myth is the more staying power it had. The young child of Davy Crocket slaying a bear with his bear hands, came from a story in which the young man described his first hunting trip as a teenager. Myth and legend make up the fabric of our culture, it is part of who we are as a people.
So why not use that to our own personal advantage? Why not, sculpt and create your own legend? Perhaps the phrase being a legend in your own mind is not necessarily a bad thing!?
Guy Reams
