A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey

by Jeff Sandefer, Robert Sirico

Do you feel like something big is missing from your life? Do you feel trapped, bored, stuck in a meaningless routine? It may be you think you’re too ordinary to ever do something special. Perhaps you’re afraid that if you try, you’ll fail. The startling truth is this: Just about anyone can do great things, can live a life that’s remarkable, purposeful, excellent, and yes, even heroic. If you want to be a hero, you can be. How? That’s what this book is all about. Will you choose to do it? Will you decide to journey heroically, instead of spending your life merely marking time? If so, this is the book for you. Welcome to your heroic journey.

Genres: Self Help

156 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2012

Reviews

[Jose Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Field Guide to the Hero’s Journey by Jeff Sandefer & Rev. Robert A Sirico is a book that takes you by the hand on the path to discovering your true self. Combined with sharing real life stories and experiences, they manage to write a moving book that inspires the reader to do something about their life and discover who they are. They not only share these stories but at the end of each chapter they insert a couple pages with exercises for the reader to follow and to slowly discover themselves. They add some questions for the readers to ask themselves and also exercises and things to try to reach the goal of the book. There are countless things to learn from this and I feel like anyone can really get the full potential that this book has to offer. I would like to share some of my biggest takeaways with you. Before I do that, I just want to say that I recommend this book to anyone. Could be a little kid, or a grown man, but whatever age you have doesn't prevent you from being able to get some sort of life changing takeaway.
 
Everyone has a hero’s journey, and as different as they may seem, they all follow a similar path.
You need to set yourself guardrails, sometimes you can want to get out of those guardrails, but by setting them, you ensure you are not risking something too important.
There are many allies and enemies on each journey. Having multiple allies will help you reach your goals faster. Note that I said goals, it's not just one journey cycle, there are multiple cycles, and sometimes they go at the same time. Look at superheroes, they don’t only have one movie, they have many movies, and each one follows the hero’s journey cycle.

[Lorra Dailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Field Guide to the Hero’s Journey has been one of the most influential and significant books I have ever read. Robert Sirico and Jeff Sandefer show us how almost every single story has the same characteristics. There is always a conflict, always a challenge, and always a solution. That is if you are willing to work hard and persevere to get the reward. This book showed me what a hero looks like, how to identify your personal thresholds, and how to overcome those obstacles and challenges. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to deeper their own knowledge about education and overall personal development. I give this book 5 stars.

[Jack Haefner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good series of well thought-out questions for consideration accompanied by fine selections of literature and poetry. An easy, well-worthwhile book for young and old alike.

[Jordan Ballor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little treasury of wisdom and inspiration.

[J Craig McKay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not normally something I’d pick up to read. An Xmas gift from a well meaning business associate. Some nice anecdotes, but a little trite. Perhaps 2.5 stars?

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good reminder that life is more than just a series of randomized events without meaning or purpose. Every 'enterprise' can be thought of as a journey, whether it's business, family, study, a trip, attaining a personal goal. A series of short anecdotes coupled with thought-provoking questions and ideas.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with full of stories that inspire and teach.Aesop was quoted a lot o need to get me an Aesop book of fables.The two shared how they view the world and success and it was nice to see how they views were translated on achieving something one hopes for in this life.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of quotes, scriptures, and fairytales that illustrate principles of entreneurship. These are mixed with personal experiences of the authors. I felt the book was very mediocre.

[Judy]

For a class, it was a great read.

[Cori Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a business class I took this summer. It was really interesting and more importantly, inspirational. If you’re business minded, you will most likely benefit from a peruse!

[Toby Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good daily devotional. Helpful reflection questions on life and the pursuit of our careers and passions.

[José Antonio Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an easy but inspiring read in the spirit of Joseph Campbell Hero Journey. Each step is reach in book and historic references as well as the personal experience of the authors. Yet the biggest contribution of the book are the end of chapter exercises. I think it is better to read the whole book at once and return to stop and do the practice.

[Mariah K. Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to get as much as I could out of this book. Took notes, wrote essays, did all I could. However, the setup, which tried to be unique, was not nearly as helpful or memorable as other books of this category.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant compendium of Journey stories and tales. I bought Aesops Fables and two other books from the bibliography before I finished this one.

[Kim Musolff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great, easy read for motivating yourself to follow your passion. Full of parables that illustrate each step of the journey, this book would be a great read for teens, too.