Ben Katt: The Hero's Journey to Wholeness and Purpose

About Ben Katt: Ben Katt is a transformation coach, meditation teacher, and storyteller. He is the author of THE WAY HOME: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness at Midlife. Ben is a former ordained minister and leader at the On Being Project, and he currently provides end-of-life care as a volunteer hospice chaplain and teaches meditation in prisons as the founder of the WITHIN Project. He lives in Milwaukee, WI, with his wife and three children.   In this episode, Dean Newlund and Ben Katt discuss:The hero’s journey as a framework for transformationSpiritual practices for everyday lifeBurnout and inner alignmentThe power of listening to inner whispersSocietal disruption as a collective call to change   Key Takeaways:Ben Katt's moment of clarity came during a routine jog when he suddenly realized his high-performing life had become unsustainable, prompting a deeper spiritual reckoning that revealed he was losing connection with his own heart.The hero’s journey, adapted from Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, offers a universal but highly personal structure for individuals to navigate uncertainty, confront their shadows, and emerge with renewed purpose and clarity.Simple, accessible practices like inward-focused journaling, meditation, gratitude, and even subtracting distractions are powerful tools for fostering self-awareness, healing burnout, and reconnecting with authentic desire.Those who face material hardship often live closer to life’s raw truths and may possess deeper spiritual insight and joy, challenging the assumption that inner work is a luxury reserved for the privileged. "Joy is happiness that's not contingent on something else. It's that stable sense of contentedness that you carry through, no matter what adversity you're facing.” — Ben Katt   Connect with Ben Katt:   Website: https://www.benjaminkatt.com/ Book: The Way Home: https://www.amazon.com/Way-Home-Discovering-Journey-Wholeness/dp/1250910447 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akabenkatt/ Substack: https://benkatt.substack.com/ See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I   Connect with Dean: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/ The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/ X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlund Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/ Email: dean.newlund@mfileadership.com Phone: 1-800-926-7370   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.