The Hero’s Journey Stage 5 — Crossing the Threshold

Since we’re 1/3 of the way through this illustrative guide to the hero’s journey, let’s run through a short recap!

You’ve been stuck in the ordinary world (Stage 1), you’ve heard the call to adventure (Stage 2), suddenly fear strikes and you’ve refused that call (Stage 3) only to have a mentor show up (Stage 4) to guide you over the first threshold.

The entirety of the first four stages are set up to get you to the first threshold. This is the point of no return where you must cross over.

We hear the expression “crossing over” quite often but what does it really mean?

There are critical points in our lives when we decide to do something and take an action — move to a new City, start dating someone exclusively, take a new job, quit a job and start a new business, the list is endless.

In the hero’s journey paradigm, this decision follows the call to adventure, the refusal and then boom!, you take an action and everything changes. You’ve started to cross over.

Crossing over is a process, and takes time, but there is always a definitive point when you make the “should I stay or should I go” decision.

In my 40s I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco to pursue another business opportunity. I sold a condo, I packed up all my stuff, loaded said stuff into a 25 foot UHaul and set out for San Francisco with nothing but a dream.

When I made that decision to move, I crossed the threshold.

I took the action of selling my condo, and then all of the ensuing steps to move to San Francisco.

If there’s one characteristic that captures the essence of crossing the threshold, it’s ACTION!

We make a decision and take an action and cross the threshold into a new vision of ourselves and likely a new life.

There are so many examples in history and the classic myths that we’ve all read — Julias Caesar crossing the rubicon, Cortés burning the boats, and Moses parting the red sea leading the Jews out of Egypt.

I’ve always loved this scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when it comes to crossing the threshold and taking a leap of faith: