What stories do you tell yourself?<\/p>\n
Are they empowering, uplifting tales that motivate you…<\/p>\n
Or do you routinely cast yourself in a minor role?<\/p>\n
The truth is that stories are immensely powerful. And from a primal standpoint, we\u2019re wired to respond to them.<\/p>\n
From our cavemen days spent listening to tales of adventure, we crave what Joseph Campbell called The Hero\u2019s Journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n So how might you change your story to improve your life?<\/p>\n Let’s take a look…<\/p>\n We use stories to convey ideas that fail to deliver the same impact when used alone, the narratives acting as a vehicle for deeper messages and hidden truths.<\/p>\n From our earliest ancestors, stories have allowed us to disseminate wisdom and insight\u00a0to\u00a0subsequent generations, allowing humanity to build on its foundational knowledge, our progress becoming cumulative rather than repetitive.<\/p>\n And although the medium of storytelling may have changed, the content itself hasn’t.<\/p>\n Just look at our obsession with Netflix\u00a0and\u00a0how we devour entire box sets in the space of a few evenings. (guiltily face).<\/p>\n We’re addicted!<\/p>\n These stories allow us to share emotions and develop deep empathy with memorable characters. Whereas Aristotle posited that plot was of greater importance than character, new research shows that we actually relate more to character-led tales.<\/p>\n Just think back to some of your own favourite books and protagonists. I still remember Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in\u00a0the Rye or Jack\u00a0London’s expert character progressions.<\/p>\n And here’s the crux…<\/p>\n Not only can we tap into their entertainment value of stories, but perhaps we can apply them to our own lives.<\/p>\n If you were the protagonist in your own story, how would you want to frame your adventure? What kind of character would you choose to embody? How would that person act in certain situations?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s face it.<\/p>\n We can become so embroiled in our own drama, that it can be hard to gain perspective.<\/p>\n But the good news?<\/p>\n Our identity isn\u2019t fixed.<\/p>\n By reframing our life as a story, we can easily detach enough to view our lives as a cohesive narrative, choosing an adventure before constructing a plot and living out our personal hero\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n By using the power of stories, we can dream bigger.<\/p>\n In our current role as extras, we naturally place limitations on our abilities due to the evidence collected from our objective circumstances.<\/p>\n After all, if we\u2019re currently unemployed or single it can seem unimaginable to make more money or meet someone likeminded.<\/p>\n By using storytelling to reframe our reality, these no longer seem like constraints. The hero in our journey can always find a way, overcoming any and all obstacles.<\/p>\n Would the main character in your favourite story mope around the house, feeling like a victim, or would they take the initiative and engage in constructive action<\/a>?<\/p>\n Living the narrative and changing your story simply requires engaging your imagination and getting creative.<\/p>\n But is it really so easy, or safe?<\/p>\n The reality we create is much like a story. Due to the cacophony of noise in the world, compiling information into more digestible storylines is a natural solution.<\/p>\n The fact is, we love to identify cause and effect.<\/p>\n Just think about any rags to riches story you’ve ever heard, the narrative of a tough upbringing resulting in a greater desire for success.<\/p>\n Sure, that may definitely play a part, but not be entirely responsible for the outcome.<\/p>\n Such tropes are so ingrained in our culture that they’ve become literary devices in themselves.<\/p>\n We assume that the information from such narratives is accurate, but increasingly, research shows that our minds are skilled invention machines, artificially creating a seamless mental experience of the outside world.<\/p>\n Often, we’re encouraged to question these narrative fallacies due to their potential for providing misleading information and poor decision-making.<\/p>\n Certainly, the narrative fallacy has shown that we don’t have such an objective grasp on reality as we’d like to think.<\/p>\n So, if stories are such powerful human drivers, but can’t always be trusted, what’s the answer?<\/p>\n There might be two ways of approaching this.<\/p>\n Firstly, you question all stories – the ones you hear (let’s call them external) and the ones you tell yourself (let’s call them internal).<\/p>\n On an external level, if you’re about to invest in a startup, it’s unwise to think that just because you’ve made savvy investments before, you’re a one-of-a-kind unicorn-hunter, everything you touch turning to gold.<\/p>\n Just by telling yourself a cause and effect story doesn’t make it accurate and might result in poor decision-making.<\/p>\n Conversely, on an internal level, this might mean undoing all the negative storylines you tell yourself by declaring that all stories are unhelpful and inaccurate.<\/p>\n But is this throwing the baby out with the bathwater?<\/p>\n In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, participants are taught to unpick their unhelpful stories with logic, to show that they might not actually be grounded in fact.<\/p>\n However, go too far into this zone (which I’ve tried btw), and you risk entering a kind of psychological ice age. If everything is random chaos, it’s easy to become overly nihilistic.<\/p>\n It’s the kind of attitude that says, “What’s the point if it’s all random anyway?”<\/p>\n So is it possible to harness the power of storytelling while avoiding the potential pitfalls of the narrative fallacy?<\/p>\n I think it is.<\/p>\n After all, as long as you recognise the potential for narrative fallacy, dipping into the power of authoring a more subjective reality should be a much safer exercise.<\/p>\n Not to mention the benefits of authoring a more positive outlook to change your story.<\/p>\n Firstly, by authoring a different narrative, you’re far more emboldened to take positive action.<\/p>\n Imagine yourself as Neo in the Matrix. You wake up to reality, and after being thrust into the story once more, realise that you have the power to manipulate your environment.<\/p>\nStorytelling<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Which Role Will You Play?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Narrative Fallacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mental Models<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Benefits of Positive Storytelling<\/strong><\/h2>\n