There is the story we tell others and then there is the story we tell ourselves. If you have a product or service and you want to improve the story you tell about it, join The Story Skills Workshop. Better stories will help us connect with those we seek to serve. Better stories can help us communicate change we need or want to make.

But then, there is story we tell ourselves, the voice in our head. It is likely the most important story. Understanding it, knowing what it is, can be enlightening. It will likely have various iterations. Often it is negative. ‘You are an imposter. You are ugly. You’ll never be good enough. You can not do this. Your work does not have worth. No one likes you. You do not add value.’ And so on.

This story impacts how we show up in the world, at work, in our relationships. It shapes the types of conversations we have and our understanding of the world around us.

Often when we try to deny the story, it grows in power. Acknowledging it, describing it, helps us see it as one perspective on our lives and who we are. Not the only perspective. Acknowledging it allows us to ‘sit down’ with it, take it out for coffee, and have a conversation with it. Heck, we can dance with it. By doing so, we give ‘the voice in our heads’ the opportunity to be heard, but we don’t need to take the criticism to heart.

And we can decide to add it to group of unbelievers we shun, so we can move forward anyway.

Photo by Juri Gianfrancesco