Hero
This is the story about why you are here on planet Earth.
There is something special about you. There is something you were born to be and do that not one of the other seven billion of us was. There is a life you are meant to live; there is a journey you are meant to take. This book is about that journey.
Twelve of the most successful people living in the world today share their seemingly impossible stories, and reveal that you were born with everything you need to live your greatest dream – and that by doing so you will fulfill your mission and literally change the world.
Once, there was a hero.
Copyright
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Copyright © 2013 by Making Good LLC. THE SECRET and The Secret logo are registered trademarks of TS Production Limited Liability Company.
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The information contained in this book is intended to be educational and not for diagnosis, prescription, or treatment of any health disorders or as a substitute for financial planning. This information should not replace consultation with a competent healthcare or financial professional. The content of this book is intended to be used as an adjunct to a rational and responsible program prescribed by a healthcare practitioner or financial professional. The author and publisher are in no way liable for any misuse of the material.
First Atria Books hardcover edition November 2013
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Artwork concept and art direction by Nic George for Making Good LLC.
Book layout and design by Gozer Media P/L (Australia),
www.gozer.com.au
, directed by Making Good LLC.
Excerpt from ILLUSIONS: THE ADVENTURES OF A RELUCTANT MESSIAH by Richard Bach, copyright © 1977 by Richard Bach and Leslie Parrish-Bach. Used by permission of Delacorte Press, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from COPY THIS! by Paul Orfalea, copyright © 2005 by The Orfalea Family Foundation. Used by permission of Workman Publishing Co., Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013034709
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5859-6
“Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.”
Richard Bach
Illusions
Dedicated to every hero
Contents
Further Reading from
Hero
’s Contributors
Acknowledgments
Every new project involves a journey that begins with the seed of an idea and travels its own unique path until its final creation in the world. I love the thrill of the journey, with its unexpected twists and turns, surprises, excitement, and joy. But more than anything else, when I look back on the journey I have taken I am completely humbled by the number of incredible people who played a vital role in helping bring the project into the world. The journey of creating
Hero
was a joy from beginning to end, and I would like to acknowledge the following extraordinary people who made it possible for you to hold this special book in your hands:
Hero’
s contributors, who came from all over the world to inspire and uplift others through sharing their experiences and whom I had the immense honor and privilege to work with: Liz Murray, Peter Foyo, John Paul DeJoria, Anastasia Soare, Michael Acton Smith, Peter Burwash, Mastin Kipp, G. M. Rao, Pete Carroll, Laird Hamilton, Layne Beachley, and Paul Orfalea. Thank you for trusting in me, for unhesitatingly giving your precious time, and for seeing the vision and potential of
Hero
when it was just a seed of an idea.
The contributor’s wonderful assistants for their invaluable help. The amazing people working for the contributors’ foundations and charities; thank you for being a part of
Hero
and allowing us to highlight the great work you are doing. Special thanks to Mayra-Alejandra Garcia, Luca Carp, Bhuvana Chakravarthy, Jaime Davern, Megan McGrath, and Tamara Azar.
The Secret team members Skye Byrne and Paul Harrington, who worked closely with me in creating the structure of
Hero
, who undertook the enormous task of compiling the contributors’ words, and who provided genius insights throughout its creation. In addition, thanks to Skye, for her depth of understanding and brilliant editing of my writing;
Hero
would not be what it is without her editing.
Glenda Bell, who project managed
Hero
, and who not only brought the contributors to
Hero
but who managed the scheduling of interviews and liaised with all the contributors’ foundations, and Andrea Keir, who worked diligently side by side with Glenda to bring the perfect contributors to
Hero
. Thank you.
Jan Child, who is in charge of publishing for The Secret. Thank you for your encouragement, enthusiasm, and tireless work on
Hero
in uniting the publishing, graphics, and website teams from across the planet into a united creative force.
The creative director of The Secret, Nic George. Thank you for your magnificent drawing and original artwork for
Hero
, and for continually inspiring me with my writing to live up to your graphic work. To our graphics team at Gozer Media, Shamus Hoare and Anna Buys, thank you for your dedication and talent yet again.
My phenomenal publishing team at Atria Books and Simon & Schuster for their support of my books, of The Secret, and me. Thank you to Carolyn Reidy, Judith Curr, Dennis Eulau, Darlene DeLillo, my editor Sarah Branham for her guidance, Lisa Keim, Eileen Ahearn, Paul Olsewski, Jim Thiel, Daniella Wexler, and copyeditors Isolde Sauer and Kimberly Goldstein.
The Secret team members whom I am blessed to work with every day: Donald Zyck, Lori Sharapov, Mark O’Connor, Josh Gold, my personal assistant Jill Nelsen, Cori Johansing, Peter Byrne, Chye Lee, and Marcy Koltun-Crilley.
Our legal team at Greenburg Glusker: Bonnie Eskenazi and Aaron Moss. My eternal thanks to Brad Brian of Munger Tolles. To Laura Reeve and the team at our P.R. company, Edelman, thank you.
My dearest friends and family, who continue to support and inspire me in my work, and whose presence in my life I dearly cherish. Thank you. And to my wonderful parents – you were the absolute best.
My daughter Hayley, who teaches me to ask for answers beyond what is known in the material world, and her perfect creation, Savannah Byrne-Cronin. For their love and support, Kevin “Kid” McKemy, the beautiful Oku Den, Paul Cronin, and Angel Martin Velayos for his continual spiritual guidance and wisdom.
Lastly, the idea for
Hero
came through a flash of insight that I received one evening, and so my deepest gratitude to the Universe and the Universal Mind for inspiring me with such a special project, and for guiding me through every step of its journey to its creation on planet Earth.
This book is about a story. It’s a story that changed my life, and throughout history has changed the lives of many other human beings. This story has been told since the beginning of time. It has appeared in different forms in every culture and country of the world, but the essence of the story always remains the same. The story is about a hero who undertakes a courageous journey on planet Earth.
The setting of planet Earth is an exquisitely beautiful one – filled with vast oceans, mountains, jungles, breathtaking coastlines, sweeping plains, and spectacular animals and creatures of every kind – and along with the beauty of the natural world is all of the joy that is experienced by the human beings who inhabit it. But as the hero discovers, life is also very challenging for human beings on earth. Growth is painful, from childhood to adolescence, adulthood, and eventual old age, and there are the experiences of physical suffering, poverty, and grief, and eventual death for everyone.
There is both joy and suffering on planet Earth because this beautiful world is a world of duality – a world of opposites. There is an opposite side to everything. There’s light and there’s darkness, near and far, up and down, left and right, hot and cold, and these opposites are experienced at every level of life. There are friends and enemies, falling in love and falling out of love, security and uncertainty, wealth and poverty, bliss and despair, and in every human there are positive and negative qualities. On planet Earth, everything has its opposite.
And it’s this world with its equal potential for great joy, great love, great challenges, and great suffering that you wanted to come to. It’s you who wanted to come here and experience the adventure of living in such a beautiful but challenging place. It’s you who were determined that there was no difficulty so great it would stop you from discovering the hero within you. It’s you who wanted to take the Hero’s Journey… for you are the hero of this story.
You are not left unequipped when you undertake the Hero’s Journey. You were born with immensely powerful abilities within you that would enable you to realize your dreams and overcome every trial, obstacle, and challenge you would encounter. But in being born into the limited material world of planet Earth, your mind and consciousness became limited too, which meant you wouldn’t remember your true nature, and you wouldn’t remember the powerful abilities within you. You would have to discover them for yourself.