We Can't Skip the Adventure

I was reading The Alchemist recently, one of the most satisfying and transformative books I have ever read. The author, Paulo Coelho summarized the whole story like this. "The reward for our work is not what we get, but who we become."

That's fascinating. But I feel that without reading the book, it's feels empty. It's like saying "Discipline is key to success." Sure, great, but what success? Discipline in what? Can we grasp this lesson without reading the entire book? Can we skip the adventure and still learn this lesson? Let me retell the story of The Alchemist, hopefully you've already read it. Let's explore how we can convey this message in different ways. From simple statements, to increasing details until we can capture its meaning. How can we tell a story that conveys hard work and becoming.

1. Someone got rich.

That's it. This is the entire story. Do you feel inspired? No? Ok, let's try again.

2. Someone got rich by finding a treasure.

That is still the entire story, yet it feels incomplete. The treasure part is intriguing though, like a clickbait title. Let's add more detail.

3. A boy found a treasure in an old abandoned church.

OK. There is a boy, a treasure, and an old abandoned church. It encapsulates everything, yet it feels more like the beginning. Arguably when the story ends, it marks the beginning of a new chapter the author leaves to our imagination. But let's add some more details, maybe have 2 sentences.

4. After traveling from Andalusia to the Pyramids of Egypt, a boy found a treasure. It was buried in an abandoned church right where he had started his adventure.

If I follow this with "The reward for our work is not what we get, but who we become.", it still feels a bit off. What part of travelling constitutes work? The treasure is the reward we get, but which part explains the reward of "who we become?" Let's try again, with a bit more detail.

5. A boy from a small town in Andalusia dreamed of travelling. His father gave him a flock of sheep so he could discover the country. Bored with the predictable life of a shepherd, he wanted to experience more of the world. He fell asleep in an abandoned church with his flock, then he had a dream. In his dream he found a treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt. Ambitious, he sold his sheep, hopped on a ship and sailed across the sea. There he learned to speak Arabic, lost all his money, nearly died several times, and fell in love. He made his way across the desert, met an Alchemist who could turn lead into gold, found the majestic Pyramids of Giza, only to discover that he had misinterpreted his dream. His treasure was buried right in the abandoned church where he had his dream. He became a rich man, but more importantly, he met the love of his life.

Not perfect but it captures several elements of the author's summary. "The reward of our work is not what we get." We gave the boy a back story, his struggle, his dream. We talked about his work as a shepherd, his travels, his learning a new language, and making his way across the desert. And then the reward of getting the riches of a treasure.

"...but who we become." We introduce the idea of becoming. The boy meets an alchemist. Turning lead into gold was the subject of many experiments throughout history. This is the experience of a lifetime. The boy meets the love of his life, nothing is more transformative.

This could probably be on the back cover of the book to entice you to read it. It helps you understand that "The reward for our work is not what we get, but who we become." But it still lacks details. Who does the boy end up becoming? Why is meeting the love of his life important? How will this book convince me of this statement?

The only way to truly understand is to join Santiago on his journey. You must walk the hills of Andalusia beside him, hear his arguments with his father. You must understand what it means to support a son while disagreeing with his choices. You must experience the vulnerability of trusting blindly and losing everything in a foreign land.

Stories don't just deliver messages, they transform us into the kind of people who can receive them. Sometimes, we want to skip the details. We don't want to know how the breeze felt on your skin, or the rhythm of your heartbeat in an interview. We just want the reward. But the reward isn't just understanding the lesson; it's becoming someone capable of living it.

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