There is this concept in storytelling nerdom called the “threshold guardian.”
Basically, it’s an obstacle that gets in the hero’s way of adventure.
A threshold guardian comes in many forms: it could be a business competitor, a client, or a psycho ex-girlfriend.
It may have even been secretly planted in your path to test your resolve or help you develop a new skill.
But the threshold guardian stands in the way between you and your goals, vision, path to success, and ultimately, your victory.
And depending on your particular threshold guardian, there are various ways to get past it.
You might use brute force, trickery, or even your own charisma to turn this adversary into an ally.
But all the heroes who have been successful in their adventures – whether it was with money, women, power, friendship, community, influence, peace, or whatever they were after – they found a way to use their unique skills, their trade, their particular experiences, or personalities to overcome.
In the movie The Three Amigos, the people of Santo Poco used their sewing skills to confuse and outsmart the evil villain El Guapo.
The problems will come, and they will keep coming.
But once you develop the eyes, and the cunning wisdom needed on the hero’s journey to outsmart your threshold guardian, you will find success on the other side.
Paul Denni
paul@denni.biz
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