Your 2025 Entrepreneurial Review: A Hero’s Journey–Inspired Year-End Reflection

This year, many people I’ve spoken with are thinking about entrepreneurship.

Some started their journey this year. Some paused or stepped back. Some are still waiting for the right timing. Some built steady momentum. And some found a sense of stability or flow.

Every stage is meaningful. None is “behind.”

Entrepreneurship is not linear—it is a cyclical, deeply personal process that unfolds differently for each person.

In many ways, it mirrors the psychological and mythological arc known as the Hero’s Journey.

There are many theories that describe the stages of this journey, from Joseph Campbell to Christopher Vogler to Jungian archetypal models. For this reflection, I’m using Joseph Campbell’s simplified 8-stage version because it is accessible and intuitive.

This framework is a metaphor, not a rulebook. It is a way to reflect on where you’ve been in 2025 and where you stand now.

Entrepreneurial Hero’s Journey

Below is a conversational walk-through of the eight stages—written to help you gently recognize your own lived experience in 2025.

You may find yourself in one stage, or moving between several. There is no right place to be.

1. The Ordinary World

Think back to where you were at the start of 2025—your routines, your responsibilities, your familiar ways of working. This was the world you knew well, even if it wasn’t entirely satisfying. The “ordinary world” is not a negative place; it’s simply the starting point that shapes what comes next.

Reflection prompt: What did your ordinary world look and feel like when this year began?

2. Call to Adventure

Sometimes the call arrives as a big moment; other times it’s a quiet whisper. Maybe it was a growing sense that something needed to change, a spark of inspiration, a desire for more freedom, or even a frustration that pushed you to imagine something different.

Reflection prompt: What stirred or nudged you this year? What invitation toward possibility did you notice?

3. Crossing the Threshold

This is the moment when intention becomes movement. It might have been a formal step—registering your business, booking a consultation, investing in support—or a personal declaration like, “I’m ready to try.” Crossing the threshold is brave because it means entering the unknown.

Reflection prompt: Did you take a meaningful step in 2025 that shifted you from thinking into doing?

4. Road of Trials

Every entrepreneur walks this path: facing challenges, refining ideas, learning new skills, and adjusting expectations. The road of trials is where resilience is built—not through perfection, but through experimenting, falling, recalibrating, and trying again.

Reflection prompt: What challenges stretched you this year? What did you learn through trial and error?

5. The Abyss (Dark Night of the Soul)

The abyss is not failure—it is the moment when you meet your deepest doubts. This might have shown up as burnout, financial uncertainty, identity confusion, or the fear that you made the wrong call. Yet these moments often bring clarity about what truly matters.

Reflection prompt: What was your abyss moment in 2025? What truths or strengths emerged from it?

6. Transformation

Transformation is not always dramatic. It often happens slowly, through small internal shifts—greater confidence, clearer boundaries, a deeper understanding of your values, or renewed trust in your capacity. This is the stage where the self begins to reorganize.

Reflection prompt: What internal changes did you notice in yourself this year?

7. Return

Returning means coming back to your daily life with the insights you’ve gained. Maybe you simplified your offerings, restructured your schedule, or reconnected with a more grounded way of working. This is integration—bringing your learning into your everyday world.

Reflection prompt: What did you return with this year, and how did it shape your practical decisions?

8. Return with the Elixir

The elixir is the gift you carry forward—a new skill, a more stable foundation, wiser boundaries, stronger emotional resilience, or a clearer vision for the future. Your elixir does not need to look impressive on the outside. Often, it is profoundly internal.

Reflection prompt: What is the gift you’re leaving 2025 with? What elixir do you hope to cultivate in 2026?

Reviewing Your Stage in 2025

As the year ends, take a moment to identify honestly where you are in your journey.

Not where you think you “should” be, but where you truly are.

Every stage holds value.

Every stage teaches something essential.

Every stage prepares you for what comes next.

Reflective questions:

• Which stage best describes your 2025 experience?

• How did this stage shape your growth or identity this year?

• What do you want to carry forward into 2026?

• What are you ready to release?

Recognizing your current stage brings clarity, compassion, and a sense of grounded direction.

Closing: Trusting Your Own Hero Path

Entrepreneurial hero's journey is not a race. It is a deeply personal journey that unfolds in its own timing.

Your path is not meant to look like anyone else’s.

As we move toward the new year, may you trust the pace of your own unfolding.

May you honor the stage you’re in.

And may you continue to move forward with courage, curiosity, and compassion.

Every entrepreneur walks their own path—whether at the start, facing obstacles, or celebrating victories, every stage is part of your Hero’s Journey.