How You Tell Your Story Impacts Whether You Live Happily Ever After

The way you tell your story – especially to one particular audience – can shape your future and affect whether or not you have a happy ending.

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We discussed how to tell your story for future success on The BIGG Success Show. Here’s a summary of that discussion.

This show was inspired by an Dr. Christian Jarrett on BBC. It’s an interesting perspective: the way you tell the stories you tell yourself form the foundation of who you become.

We found this to be a great reminder to the two of us. We hope it helps you as well.

2 Kinds of Life Events

1) Some events happen BY you. Think of them this way:

Something happens because you [fill-in-the-blank].

These are events where you are proactive.

2) Other events happen TO you. Think of them this way:

Because something happens, you [fill-in-the-blank]

These are events where you are reactive. Remember this:

You can’t always control what happens.
However, you can fully control how you respond.

At one extreme are people don’t react at all. They put their heads in the sand and hope for the best. This is rarely the best course of action. Or should we say inaction!

At the other extreme, there are people who overreact. They turn every molehill into a mountain. Not only is this one situation undesirable, their whole life experience has been a bummer. The odds are stacked against them. Something, someone, will always stand between them and success. Unfortunately, they’re probably right – because they will sabotage their own success to prove themselves right.

Then there’s the people we call pro-reactive. They faces the challenges head on. They maintain a positive attitude. Somehow, someway, they will overcome.

How you talk about your past shapes your future

You can tell your story as a person weighed down by past events. Or you can see yourself rising above them.

And in most cases – even more important than the event itself is how you talk about the event. And, even more importantly, how you talk about it one audience in particular: Yourself.

Your self-talk is critical in shaping your future. And a lot of that is driven by the past. So here’s a critical question to ask yourself about how you think (i.e. talk to yourself) about an unpleasant life event or experience from the past…

Is it just one of many times when life was sweet but then turned bitter?

Is it a tough time that, in spite of it all, turned out positive?

This Podcast Episode is Sponsored by: FinancialFreedomTool.com

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How can you feel the thrill of victory when you’ve faced the agony of defeat?

To answer this question, let’s look at a common example. Let’s say you get laid off.

What can you learn? Can you prevent it, or at least minimize its damage, in the future? Of course you can. You can get a part-time job or start a part-time business. You can beef up your emergency fund, once you replace your job. (OR take these steps NOW, while you have cash flow from your job coming in.)

What new thing(s) can you try? Where are the opportunities NOW? Should you consider a career change? Or is there a business you’ve always wanted to start? Breaking out of the mold leads to BIGG success!