Page 120 - Ray Dalio - Principles

and reconciliations with their fathers and their sons. They
overcome their fear of fighting because of their great
determination to achieve what they want, and they gain their

“special powers” (i.e., skills) from both “battles” that test and
teach them, and from gifts (such as advice) that they receive
from others. Over time, they both succeed and fail, but they
increasingly succeed more than they fail as they grow stronger
and keep striving for more, which leads to ever-bigger and
more challenging battles.

Heroes inevitably experience at least one very big failure

(which Campbell calls an “abyss” or the “belly of the whale”
experience) that tests whether they have the resilience to come
back and fight smarter and with more determination. If they
do, they undergo a change (have a “metamorphosis”) in which
they experience the fear that protects them, without losing the
aggressiveness that propels them forward. With triumphs come
rewards. Though they don’t realize it when they are in their

battles, the hero’s biggest reward is what Campbell calls the
“boon,” which is the special knowledge about how to succeed
that the hero has earned through his journey.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey schema from The Hero with a Thousand Faces
(New World Library), copyright © 2008 by the Joseph Campbell Foundation
(jcf.org), used with permission.
Late in life, winning more battles and acquiring more

rewards typically becomes less exciting to heroes than passing