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"For the generation who normalized therapy — and still feel stuck"
The Hero's Journey Is Lonely
Give Yourself Some Leeway
Shelter. Space. Support. You don't have to walk it alone.
⏰ Launch Week Pricing Ends Soon — 80% Off
📱 Kindle Edition • Paperback & Hardcover coming soon
As Featured On
Does This Sound Familiar?
"There must be something more than this"
"Something's missing but I can't name it"
"I achieved what I was supposed to, but it feels hollow"
"I feel like I'm playing a character in my own life"
"I'm restless but I don't know what I'm restless for"
"I feel pulled toward something I can't quite name"
If any of these resonate, you're not broken. You're not behind. You're experiencing something humans have felt for thousands of years.
You're Not the First to Feel This
Throughout history, people have noticed this same restlessness — and tried to understand it. Over time, a pattern emerged.
Psychologists noticed it first
Carl Jung called it "individuation" — the call to become who you actually are beneath the masks you've learned to wear.
A mythologist mapped it
Joseph Campbell studied myths across every culture and found the same story everywhere. He called it the "monomyth" — the Hero's Journey.
Hollywood made it famous
George Lucas used Campbell's framework to create Star Wars. Suddenly millions could see the pattern playing out on screen.
50,000 Years
Of Human Wisdom
This pattern appears in every culture, every era, every continent. It's not a coincidence. It's describing something real about what it means to be human.
So What Is the Hero's Journey?
It's not about slaying dragons. It's about the internal transformation that happens when you finally answer the call you've been ignoring.
The Call
That restless feeling. The sense that there's more. Something pulling us toward change.
Luke staring at the twin suns, longing for something beyond the farm.
The Descent
Going into the depths. Facing what we've been avoiding. Meeting our shadow.
Luke in the cave on Dagobah, seeing his own face beneath Vader's mask.
The Return
Coming back transformed. Living from a new center. Integrating what we found.
Luke as a Jedi, having integrated both light and dark.
Star Wars works because it shows us what we're all going through. Luke's external adventure mirrors the internal journey we all face.
It's Not Just a Story — It's Your Story
This pattern keeps appearing in movies, books, and myths because it describes something real. Not about heroes with swords — about you.
That restlessness you feel? That's the Call.
The sense that something's missing? That's the invitation to begin.
You're not broken. You're not behind. You're standing at the threshold of your own hero's journey — whether you realize it or not.
The Hero's Journey is a map of what happens when you finally answer.
But a Map Only Shows You the Territory
The Hero's Journey gives you the pattern. It doesn't protect you from the storms.
Life doesn't pause while you transform. The journey happens while everything else is still happening — your job, your relationships, the world demanding you keep performing while something inside you is trying to change.
And storms will hit. Doubt. Loss. Setbacks. Old patterns fighting to survive. When those storms hit, you can't just keep walking. You need shelter. You need room to drift off course without capsizing. You need people alongside you.
That's why I named this book
Leeway
Ancient sailors had a word for the space between where you're pointed and where you're actually going. It wasn't a flaw — it was essential. They built it into every voyage because storms were guaranteed. The same is true for the hero's journey:
Shelter
Safe spaces to fall apart and rebuild. Therapy, real community, or wherever we can be honest about the struggle.
Space
Room to release old patterns without immediately needing new ones to grab onto.
Support
Fellow travelers who get that growth isn't a solo mission and can be easier with others.
This book gives you both: the map that explains where you are, and the leeway you need when the storms hit.
Rooted in Tradition. Grounded in Research.
This isn't woo-woo spirituality or dry academic theory. It's both — and more.
Psychology
Jung, shadow work, developmental stages
Mythology
Campbell, the monomyth, universal patterns
Eastern Wisdom
Consciousness traditions, ancient practices
Modern Science
Neuroscience, trauma research, epigenetics
Lived Experience
Memoir, honesty, spectacular failures
More About the Book
A 300+ page exploration told through story, psychology, mythology, and honest reckoning with my own journey.
Part One
Growth & Evolution
The ancient pattern that explains why achievement can't fill the hole. Jung's work on the shadow and persona. Understanding how conditional worth gets installed — and what it takes to uninstall it.
Part Two
Into the Unknown
Where the map ends and the territory begins. Experiences that challenged everything I thought I knew about myself. The messy, ongoing work of separating who I am from what I produce.
Questions This Book Sits With
Where does this pressure actually come from?
Why is enough never enough?
What would I be worth if I stopped achieving?
Whose voice am I trying to satisfy?
What you won't find:
- Tips for achieving more efficiently
- Productivity hacks or optimisation
- Someone pretending they've got it all figured out
What you will find:
- A framework for understanding the restlessness
- Psychology and mythology that actually explain the pattern
- Honest companionship from someone still on the path
Take a Peek Inside
Diagrams, frameworks, and practical tools alongside the stories.
Click any image to enlarge
Part of the Modern Hero Series
Three Books. One Journey.
Leeway
The Roots · The Foundation
Understand the pattern. See where the restlessness comes from. Begin to question the scripts you've been handed.
Order Now — $1.99
Becoming a Modern Hero
The Trunk · The Journey
Walk the path. Descend into the unknown. Meet your shadows. Return transformed.
Coming 2026
MaskUp
The Branches & Leaves · The Application
Bring it back to the real world. Navigate work, relationships, and success from wholeness.
Coming 2026
Leeway
Order Now $1.99
Becoming
Coming 2026
MaskUp
Coming 2026
"The tree that would grow to heaven must send its roots to hell."
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Everyone Wants to Grow.
But Nobody Wants to Dig.
Why?
Because you were taught to avoid the dark.
The script was handed to you piece by piece. All of it pointed UP — achievement, milestones, success. None of it pointed DOWN — into the shadows, the questions, the parts of yourself you were taught to hide.
What You'll Uncover
Family Scripts
"This is what success looks like."
Cultural Programming
"These are the milestones that matter."
Educational Conditioning
"These are the credentials you need."
Societal Pressure
"This is a life well-lived."
This book is an invitation to dig—and a companion while you do.
Why I Wrote This Book
I spent years trying to be the tallest, mightiest oak in the forest. Then life's first real storm toppled me over and I fell down with a crash. Turns out, height without depth doesn't work.
Most self-help books are selling us a ladder to success when what might serve us better is a shovel.
They promise we can reach the heights without ever touching the depths. For years, I chased these temporary highs, feeding my ego's hunger for quick fixes, completely oblivious that real transformation—at least for me—meant going into those dark depths first.
This is the book I wished someone had handed me in my twenties, when I was lost and could have used an honest map through those depths. Because I didn't know then what I know now: working through those dark depths was clearing space for something real—a chance to discover my actual values, and through living them, find a purpose that was genuinely mine.
FEATURED ON
Leeway author Lee Malcher recently joined physicist Michio Kaku on NPR's Cool Science Radio Podcast to discuss consciousness, transformation, and the science behind the hero's journey.
Listen to the conversation →What Readers Are Saying
"I had 500 days on Headspace and still felt empty. Turns out I was using mindfulness to avoid my mess, not meet it. This book called me out in the kindest, funniest way possible."
"I made partner at 38. For about three weeks, I felt like I'd finally arrived. Then the emptiness came back, worse than before. I wish I'd found this map earlier."
"If you're tired of gurus pretending they've got it all figured out, this fellow traveler's tale is the companion you've been looking for. No BS. No enlightened posturing."
"Finally, a book that doesn't promise enlightenment by Thursday. Lee's honesty about his own mess made me feel less alone in mine."
Is This Book For You?
Six doorways. One journey. Which one calls to you?
You've built a life that looks good from the outside...
But you're craving something deeper—a connection to purpose that goes beyond achievement. That 3am restlessness might be more than insomnia.
You're standing at a crossroads...
Career change, relationship ending, existential crisis—you can't go back to who you were, and you don't yet know who you're becoming.
You're part of the "I'm working on my stuff" movement...
Therapy isn't weakness—it's strategy. You know that real growth requires more than positive thinking. You want tools that actually work.
You're successful but drawn to integrate something deeper...
You're seeking growth that honors both your analytical mind and your expanding awareness. You want practical wisdom, not just woo-woo.
You've explored the popular books and frameworks...
They helped, but you sense there might be more. You're curious about going beyond surface insights—into shadows, archetypes, and ancient patterns.
You're in the thick of it...
The career fell apart, the relationship ended, the identity crumbled. While everyone else is selling you ladders to climb out, you're willing to explore what the darkness might teach you.
This Book Is Probably NOT For You If:
You want a quick fix or guaranteed results by next Tuesday
You're looking for someone to tell you exactly what to do
You prefer gurus who claim to have all the answers
You're not ready to question comfortable assumptions
10 Things We'll Face Together
The questions most self-help books won't touch
How to discover and live a values and purpose driven life that's genuinely yours
Why every culture's folklore contains the same roadmap for transformation
Why success can feel empty (that nagging "is this it?" feeling)
How the unconscious parts of yourself might be influencing your life
The difference between your ego's agenda and your soul's purpose
How Eastern wisdom and Western psychology describe the same developmental map
Why your ancestors' trauma might be living in your body
Why breakdown often precedes breakthrough
What synchronicities, recurring dreams, and 'weird' experiences might mean
How to integrate what you discover so it actually sticks—not just another insight that fades
The Ancient Human Journey to Meaning
Now Mapped For Modern Meaning Seekers
Dig Deep — Into the shadows you've been avoiding
Work With Your Inner Critic — Instead of against it
Break Free — From paths you never actually chose
Meet Your Self — The authentic you beneath expectations
Uncover Your Real Values — What actually matters to YOU
Make Values-Based Decisions — From YOUR truth
Find Purpose & Meaning — What emerges when you live from values
Serve — Contribute from wholeness, not performance
The Call Is Already There.
The Map Is Waiting.
Are you ready to begin?
Order Kindle Edition —⏰ Launch Week Pricing Ends Soon — 80% Off
PLUS: Claim $40.97 in FREE Advance Reader Copies
Already ordered? Enter your email to get:
✓ Becoming a Modern Hero (Kindle Edition) — $9.99 FREE
✓ MaskUp (Kindle Edition) — $9.99 FREE
✓ The Modern Hero Workbook (Digital + Printable) — $12.99 FREE
Total savings: $40.97
Frequently Asked Questions
Leeway explores how going into your inner darkness — the parts you've been avoiding — creates authentic transformation. It bridges psychology and ancient wisdom into a practical framework for finding your real values and building a life from them, not from scripts others gave you.
This book is for anyone who's consumed tons of self-help content but still feels stuck, wants to understand why surface-level positivity isn't working, or is ready to do the actual inner work with structure and honesty (plus British humour).
The Hero's Journey is a pattern that mythologist Joseph Campbell discovered appearing across thousands of stories from every culture throughout history. It describes a universal arc of transformation: hearing a call, leaving the familiar, descending into the unknown, facing challenges, and returning transformed. It's not just about stories — it describes the inner journey of becoming who you actually are.
Leeway draws from both — it's psycho-spiritual. You get practical psychology, ancient wisdom, and classic mythology, all filtered through lived experience and healthy skepticism.
Unlike books that promise transformation through positive thinking or manifestation techniques, this book shows what they're missing: you have to go into the depths first. It includes the author's spectacular failures, admits he still struggles, and gives you both the map and the vocabulary for real change.
Not at all. The book is written for a general audience and explains everything from the ground up. Whether you've never heard of Jung or Campbell, or you've studied them extensively, the book meets you where you are. I use stories and examples (including Star Wars) to make complex ideas accessible.
Absolutely. The books build from the ground up, explaining concepts like shadow work without requiring prior knowledge. If you can handle honesty and some witty British humor, you're ready.
Great question. And anyone who gives you a timeline is being dishonest. The truth is this kind of work never really stops. It's about going into your depths and integrating parts of yourself you don't yet know, not checking boxes. Some insights hit immediately, some take years to digest.
The Kindle edition launched January 14th, 2026 and is available now at the special launch week price of $1.99 (80% off). When you order, it will automatically download to your device. Paperback and hardcover editions are coming later in 2026.
Leeway is now available as a Kindle edition at the special launch week price of $1.99 (80% off the regular $9.99 price). Paperback and hardcover editions are coming soon.
When you order and enter your email, you'll receive reader copies of the other two books in the Modern Hero Series: "Becoming a Modern Hero" (The Journey) and "MaskUp" (The Application), plus The Modern Hero Workbook. These are sent as Kindle editions directly to your email — a total value of $40.97, completely free.
At $1.99, it's a low-risk way to find out. But honestly, if you resonated with any of the feelings in the "Does This Sound Familiar?" section — the restlessness, the sense that something's missing, feeling like you're playing a character in your own life — then this book was written for you. And if it doesn't resonate, Amazon makes returns easy.