What do you and 31 year old billionaire Elizabeth Holmes have in common?

Right now, Elizabeth Holmes is under attack. Not by her customers or investors, but by the press and the US government. She started her company, Theranos, when she was 19. It’s now worth $9 billion and has made her the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. How? Because her company helps people check their blood easily in pharmacies at a fraction of the cost a hospital will charge.

Elizabeth’s a big threat to the medical industry because she’s openly saying “Health care is the leading cause of bankruptcy, and the lack of it is the leading cause of suffering.” If she succeeds in making blood tests cheap and easy, they lose control of your medical data and wallets. We take control.

So one thing has led to another, and in October the Wall Street Journal ran a mud-slinging piece on Elizabeth and her company, quoting ‘unnamed sources’ who say her tests aren’t all accurate. Now the rest of the press is on the bandwagon and Elizabeth is fighting back, saying “We’ve seen two articles that were false, and immediately everyone reprints it as if it were true.”

Have you noticed all success stories have a big road bump in the middle, when the establishment or dark forces turn against the hero?

Are you in a similar situation where everything seems against you?

It’s happened to everyone from Bill Gates to Oprah Winfrey, from Mark Zuckerberg to Marissa Mayer, from Mahatma Gandhi to Mother Theresa, from Luke Skywalker to Katniss Everdeen.

Each have had a darkest hour, which has also become their defining moment.

It’s now happening to Elizabeth Holmes and maybe right now it’s also happening to you or someone you know.

Mythologist and scholar, Joseph Campbell, calls it part of the “Hero’s Journey”. He showed that every culture told the story of the hero – how we must follow a journey with the same “Three Acts” to reach our true greatness:

In “Act 1 – The Departure” we follow the ‘call to adventure’. We start a business, or take on a new challenge, which leads us into unfamiliar territory and internal struggles.

In “Act 2 – The Initiation” we meet the ‘road of trials’. We are tested by external demons and dragons to see if we are up to the task. We need to be strong enough to stand tall and humble enough to seek the help of others.

This is where Elizabeth is right now. Most don’t make it through the road of trials, and give up. They never reach the prize – which is to rise above these obstacles to become the very best version of ourselves.

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” ~ Joseph Campbell

In “Act 3 – The Return” once we make it through the trials, comes resurrection and rebirth. We then return to where we began, with far greater power and wisdom to share with others.

This is all our journeys: It’s your journey. It’s my journey. We’re all in this together.

Get strength from the journeys of amazing entrepreneurs like Elizabeth’s. They’re unfolding in real time right in front of us. Keep hanging in their, and know you’re not alone.