You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” –

The line distills a central Campbell theme: the “hero’s journey” requires surrendering the ego’s script—social expectations, carefully managed plans, and fear-based control—in order to answer a deeper call. “Giving up” does not mean passivity so much as releasing rigid attachment to a predetermined identity. The “life waiting for you” suggests an emergent vocation or destiny that becomes visible only through risk, change, and responsiveness to experience. In this sense, the quote functions as counsel for transitions—career shifts, creative work, relationships, spiritual seeking—where growth depends on letting the old narrative die so a fuller one can take shape.