The archetype of the King 🆙

Find out how to develop the King archetype and take full control of your life.

The archetype of the King

"In life you are either king or pawn."

Napoleon.

This is the fifth and final post in a miniseries of articles dedicated to archetypes of the adult human being. If this is the first post you read, I recommend that you go allintroductory article, which explains the model of archetypes, its origins and its importance for your maturation process. Once you have finished reading the mini-series, don't forget to do the test to discover your dominant archetype.

THEarchetype of the King and Regina it represents the highest level of maturity to which a human being can aspire. This archetype embodies the best characteristics of the Warrior, the Lover and the Magician. A King is at the forefront in leading his warriors into battle, has no inferiority complexes in front of anyone and spreads a love of knowledge and study among his fellow citizens. Authority, self-esteem, charisma and leadership are the salient features of this archetype. And you? Think you have what it takes to be a king?

The archetype of the Divine Child

The archetype of the King is the highest stage of maturation that the human being can access. To integrate it into your personality it is necessary to have developed the characteristic traits of a Warrior, a Lover and a Magician. Not only that, as happens for each of the other 3 archetypes, before being able to access the adult archetype it is necessary to have developed the child archetype, in this case: the Divine Child.

That of Divine Child it is a very interesting archetype. Although not a mature archetype, it has many characteristics that are important to have developed in the course of one's childhood and adolescence: enthusiasm for life, attention to well-being, the search for adventure. There is in particular a feeling that is proper to this archetype: the desire for i new beginnings. Each of us experiences this sensation at least once a year. Very good, you guessed it! January 1st when we define ours good intentions (or as I call them: the good (s) resolutions of the beginning of the year). Too bad that these good intentions do not always survive the month of January. Whose fault is it?! Maybe some shade ...

If the archetype of the Divine Child is not properly "nourished" it can easily turn into one of its 2 shadows:

Il Fragile Principino. We immerse ourselves in this shadow every time we lose our enthusiasm for life and its challenges, every time we decide to play the role of the victim, every time we let go of the first difficulties. Reconnecting with the good intentions of the beginning of the year: when we fail it is because the archetype of the Fragile Principle emerges in us, or as I like to call him ... Frignone.
Il Tyrant of the Seat. At the other extreme we have another shadow of the Divine Child: the Tyrant of the Seat is the classic child (but often also an adult) who continually demands attention, who never takes responsibility for his failures and who does not accept any criticism (a by the way, how is it going with the MILK method? Permalosetto!). You know King Joffrey from the Games of Thrones TV series? Here, this character is the classic example of Tyrant of the Seat. By the way, one of the reasons why this series is so successful is because all the classic human archetypes are represented: pay attention ;-)

How to avoid these shadows and fully develop the archetype of the Divine Child? I guess you have an idea already: when we learn to assume our responsibilities and not give up in the face of the first difficulties, in fact we are taking important steps forward to become the rulers of our life. But maturing the archetype of the Divine Child is only an intermediate step. We still have a long way to go before we become kings.

The adult archetype: the King

But why is the King archetype so important? What is it that differentiates him from others? What are its characteristics? There are 5 peculiarities that make the King a complete and fundamental archetype for our maturation as human beings. The King is ...

Balanced. As seen, the first distinctive feature of the Lover archetype is self-esteem. The King goes beyond mere self-esteem and reaches a real state of balance. It doesn't matter if the world around him falls apart and he is engulfed in chaos: the King is the rock in the midst of the storm. It acts without reacting. Keeps a cool head and a surreal calm. This type of balance is very well represented in poetry Se di Rudyard Kipling. Here is a brief passage:

"If you can keep control when everyone around you loses it and blames you [...] yours will be the world and everything in it."

Se – Rudyard Kipling.

Resolute. We make hundreds of decisions every day, yet we often find ourselves stuck in front of the most important ones. The King assumes his responsibilities and always makes a decision. Master Yoda would say: “to do or not to do, there is no trying“. This principle belongs to the archetype of the King. When the King makes a decision, he knows he has to give 110%: no hesitation, no second thoughts, no excuses.
Full. Integrity is an increasingly rare commodity in our time. The true King makes honesty an essential value, always keeps his word, and respects his principles in any eventuality, whatever the cost.
Protective. The King is the protector of the realm. Whether it's his family, friends or helpless people, the King is willing to do whatever it takes to protect those who believe in him, even if it means becoming a Warrior.
Leader. What truly distinguishes a King is his charisma, his ability to inspire others and guide them towards goals considered unattainable. The King does not need titles or labels: he leads others because of his authority, not because he has any formal authority. One of the historical figures who has well represented this idea of leadership is undoubtedly the Spartan king Leonidas.

What do you think? Do you find these inspiring characteristics too? If reading these words you have felt the urge to make your life something special, the archetype of the King is doing his job. Be careful though: as with any archetype, in the path towards its assimilation you must learn not to give in to the dark side ...

Le ombre del Re

The shadows of a king are unfortunately well known to all of us; this is because human history has repeatedly provided examples of these shadows:

On the one hand we have the Tyrant. The Tyrant is a King who has lost his balance, he is willing to do anything not to lose his power. This means that he is also willing to give up his integrity. Corrupt politicians, unscrupulous managers, bloodthirsty despots: the world is full of tyrants. The truth is that these individuals are driven by an underlying insecurity: the fear of losing their power. But it is their own lust for power that ultimately leads them to lose it in a crescendo of violence.
At the other extreme we have the Weak. The Weak is a King who has abdicated the throne: instead of taking control of his own life, he lets others (or circumstances) decide for him. He is continually insecure and, fundamentally, a coward.

If in recent times you have felt that you have lost control of your life, it is time to take charge again, it is time to prove who you really are, it is time to become a King.

How to take command of your life

Maturation is a complex process and we do not always have examples that help us to undertake it. The purpose of archetypes is precisely to provide gods reference points for all those who have chosen to make their life a masterpiece. If the archetype of the King has inspired you, you will find below a series of practical actions that you can immediately implement to "absorb" this behavioral model in your life:

Find your purpose. Every choice and every action of the King is guided by a higher purpose. If you really want to achieve ambitious goals, you need to embrace a cause that inspires you every day, from the moment you wake up until late in the evening. This is the secret of perpetual motivation and a fulfilling life. If you still haven't found your cause, you might be surprised how the answer has always been in front of your eyes - try using this method to put together the pieces of the "puzzle".
Become a leader. Are you a person who always needs to be encouraged, guided and directed or are you a person who sets the pace and inspires others? The world, more than ever, needs leaders. Mind you, I said leaders, not people with a title and a piece of paper. To understand what I'm talking about I recommend this book by Robin Sharma: "The Leader who had no titles".
Find your balance. Are you able to stay calm in the face of stressful situations? How do you react to problems? Do you focus on possible solutions or do you turn a pebble into a mountain? Finding balance means first of all learning to react effectively in the face of difficult situations, to do this you must learn to strengthen your Resilience and you have to cultivate carefully all 5 "segments" of your life.
Learn to make decisions. A king who cannot make decisions is like a driver who cannot use the steering wheel. There is no single recipe for every decision, but there are tricks, like the compass technique, which can help you make GetPersonalGrowth decisions.
Always assume your responsibilities. Every decision we make presupposes an assumption of responsibility. I have repeated it often, but this aspect is essential if you really want to change your life: take 100% responsibility for what is happening to you right now and decide how you intend to act. Forget about the economic crisis, your parents or your partner. What can YOU do to regain control of your life?
Stop making excuses. In order not to assume our responsibilities we are able to find any possible and imaginable excuse. A true King knows that the ultimate responsibility always falls on him and finds neither excuses nor excuses. Only when you eliminate the apology's lifeline are you truly ready to give your all to accomplish a goal. No excuses.
Invest in yourself. The economic crisis has wiped out all certainty about investments: the value of real estate has collapsed, the stock market is constantly fluctuating and we still don't know if the euro will be our currency in 5 years. How can you be in control of your life in the face of so much uncertainty? There is an investment that never loses its value: our brains. Invest in yourself, become a voracious reader, committed to learn a new language, always practice the best ones learning techniques.

Then? Think you have what it takes to be a King?

The Archetype of the King is the last post of this miniseries dedicated to Moore's archetypes of the adult human being. I hope you enjoyed it. These articles are a little different from the other GetPersonalGrowth articles and writing them has been quite challenging for me, but I hope they can represent a guide in your personal growth path.

Find the complete series below. Have a good week,.

Click and read the other articles of this miniseries