Were you also moved by James Cordon’s Car Karaoke with Paul McCartney (23 mins)? The way Paul McCartney shared the stories behind the songs and snapshots his life story really made it powerful for us. We believe your story can also have that power: power to connect the dots of your life, power to choose the meaning you derive from it, power to connect you with others.
And while we understand that most of our life stories aren’t like the Beatles, they still have the same kind of power.
Knowing Your Story = Power to connect the dots
You might think that your life doesn’t have a clear story line or seems like a series of unconnected dots. It could be that you feel you don’t really have much of a story: “I’ve only ever been a teacher/accountant/software developer/______ and that’s it.”
Or it could be that you’ve done so many things that at first glance they seem too random to have any connection: “I just did whatever came along and was possible at the time. I never had a plan or a ‘real’ career.”
We believe that everyone’s life has a unique story line. We challenge you to explore your life story further to discover this for yourself. You might find Shining Moment Stories a helpful tool to review, reflect on and analyse the small stories that together make up your bigger story. This will help you understand on a deeper level how they connect and be able to recognise the patterns they form.
“You can only ever connect the dots looking backward. Follow your heart and trust that they will connect.” Steve Jobs
Owning Your Story = Power to choose your perspective
I am currently looking at homes on the internet and am so impressed how Google maps provides three ways of seeing the same location: you can select map, street and satellite views.
Using all three of these ways have allowed me to experience a place from different perspectives and provided a much deeper understanding of a place.
For your story it’s the same. Just like Google maps, start with mapping your various life experiences, both highs and lows, then zoom in to street view and then way out to sattelite view. How many other ways are there to look at it? For example, think about the view of your partner, child(ren), (former) boss, an old and a new friend, and your critical self and nurturing self, etc.. Choose the mix of these perspectives that provides the most well rounded story. A story you want to share.
Sharing Your Story = Power to connect with others
Your story is what facilitates connection between yourself and others around you. By knowing and owning your story you are better able to share it in meaningful ways that build connections. We are wired for these human connections. Connections formed when you share your story can create new opportunity in your career and life.
The better you know your story, and own it on a deep level, the more you will be willing and able to share it in an authentic and powerful way. This will lead to opportunity since your career is really just different points of connection with other humans to achieve common goals together.