When I asked Chris Vogler, author of the beloved classic The Writer’s Journey, who his Force For Good mentor was, he laughed and said, “Movies! Drive-ins were my favorite. Westerns. Science fiction. Roman epics. I wanted to tear open the screen and jump in.”

While working as a Disney story analyst, Chris adapted Joseph Campbell’s work – which explored how stories across cultures follow a common pattern – into a twelve-stage framework for films.

He shared that framework in a seven-page memo that eventually landed on the desk of Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of Walt Disney Studios.

“He loved it, made it required reading for the entire staff, and brought me in to sit in Walt’s chair (that was fun!) and play a key role in developing The Lion King.”

Chris’s framework can help us understand our own lives, too.

Chris went on to say, “I believe there is a universal pattern behind every human story that is older than the pyramids. We all want to know, ‘What is good? What is evil? What must I do about that?’

“We all encounter archetypes like mentors and enemies. We all want to survive our ordeal and bring back a gift that improves our life and helps others.”

I said, “So instead of feeling, ‘I’m the only one who’s ever felt this way’ or ‘I’m the first one who’s ever had to deal with this,’ we realize that every person encounters this, and our task is to figure out what we’re supposed to learn so we can evolve.”