How to Become the Hero of Your Life Story

We all act out roles in the “movie of life.”

Some of us act like the star and others like extras. It’s just the truth. Every now and then, regular people like you and me decide they want to step out of the shadows.

You’ve seen it countless times in movies.

The protagonist is always unassuming at first — Cinderella washing floors, Katniss Everdeen minding her own business in district 12, Hillary Swank as a no-name boxer — and for a while, things don’t work out their way.

The protagonist is down and out.

She trudges along, until one day, the light bulb goes off in her head. When all seems lost, she has an idea, a dream, a new mission, and she decides right then and there she’s going to pursue it without quitting.

When it comes to real life, the story usually doesn’t work out that way, but you can reach a similar “fed up,” moment and seek to change, even though the change isn’t as dramatic as it is in a film.

See, movies have one magic moment, but real success stories come through hundreds or even thousands of “little magic moments.”

My life reached a low point before I decided enough was enough. I lived in a dorm room at age 24 because it was all I could afford. I was working 12-hour shifts at an electronics factory.

This factory was the place where dreams went to die. All day, I’d sit on an assembly line and put the same piece into the same circuit board.

I worked with mostly older people in their late 30’s and 40’s. They all had the same look in their eyes — defeat. Regardless of what led them here, this is where they were going to be for the foreseeable future.

I figured I’d be doing this for a while too because I fell short of finishing my degree and owed the school so much money I couldn’t re-enroll.

To cope with it all, I would get as high as I possibly could during the day and drink as much as my stomach could handle at night.

One night, I got so drunk I decided to pick a fight with someone I shouldn’t have picked a fight with. To this day, I don’t even remember what the guy looks like, but I

do remember my eye socket being the size of a tennis ball the next day.

I tried going back to work but the florescent lighting irritated my eye and gave me severe headaches. I took a few days off to recover.

Although I was in physical pain, I felt relieved to not be at the factory. I had no idea what I was going to do next, but I decided I was never going back to that place.

Getting beat up was a blessing in disguise because it led to a series of events that helped change my life forever.

I started looking for a new job and found one as the manager of a local video store.

Although it doesn’t sound like much to you, it was a pivotal moment in my life.

Before then, I’d been hired and fired at a string of menial jobs. I’d never been promoted. It’s hard to get promoted when you don’t make it past six months.

I applied to be a clerk at the video store, but they asked me to interview to be the store manager.

It was the first time anybody trusted me and gave me actual responsibility.

I wanted to live up to expectations.

I wanted to learn how to become a better leader and person so I could become a better manager.

This was one of the first magic little moments. Getting hired as the manager of the store inspired me to learn.

I read books on motivation and leadership after work. I watched TED Talks and interviews with successful people. For the first time in my life, I felt energized and hungry.

This motivation spilled over into new avenues and led me to walk through the doors of opportunity when I spotted them.

At the time, I tended to write small essays as Facebook statuses. It was my mental and creative outlet. I’d post about what I was reading, insights I gained, and encouraging words I thought would help my friends.

One of my friends took notice and saw something in me. He was working on a startup — a news website — and he wanted me to write for it.

The first time I wrote was like the first time you hit a crack pipe. Finally, someone had given me the permission I was unable to give myself.

I took little leaps in the early stages of my writing career, like submitting my work to publications I didn’t think my writing was qualified for.

I wrote every day. To date, I’ve written more than 300 blog posts and now two books. Each time I sat down and put words on the page was a magic moment. When you find “that thing,” it’s not hard to do.

Finding “that thing,” inside you starts with a point of being desperate enough or inspired enough to take at least one step. It might not even be a step that’s in the exact direction of your dreams — becoming a video store manager certainly isn’t the first step in the “How to Become a Writer” handbook.” — but any step where you decide you no longer want to go back is worthwhile.

Hundreds of decisions later, I’m here, doing something I always wanted, but never thought I’d be doing.

I didn’t know what I wanted to begin with. I just knew I was fed up with my situation, and I said yes to anything I felt would move me in a new direction.

What’s the point of the story? The point is that you are now in the same position as I was. You just want something different.

To make the transition, I suggest treating yourself like the hero in your own movie.

In the hero’s journey, the protagonist accepts the call. It’s time for you to accept the call and begin to experience the “little magic moments” that lead to your total reinvention.

Most people never reach the triumphant climax and come home victorious.

They just die, and they lived as if the remaining pieces of their life story were ripped out and discarded — never to be seen.

Look, I’m practical. I’m not going to pretend like your story will work out. It can, but no book in the world will force you to accept the call.

I was just like you at one point. I had to read book after book, blog post after blog post, and watch interview after interview before I truly rose to the occasion.

I wrote this post because if even just one of you accepts the call, it means I’ve used my time on this earth well.

See, our stories are intertwined. Helping you helps me. I’m on a mission to open the eyes of as many people as possible. I know it’s more than possible to turn your life around and start a rewarding journey.