“Inside each of us is a natural born storyteller just waiting to be released.”
– Robin Moore
Self-Discovery Journey
In early 2013, I had everything I was supposed to have – a well-paid job, a nice car, and great friends. In addition, I was working hard to save money to buy a house while deliberately working on my dating life.
Despite having all that, I wasn’t fulfilled or happy.
Everything was great on the surface, but why wasn’t I living with zest? To find out the answer, I went on a long journey of self-discovery.
I knew the answer was somewhere outside of my comfort zone.
By mid-2013, I was unmotivated at work because of the lack of strong leadership and compelling vision in the company. This ended up with me moving to a new city for another job.
Being away from family and friends, I was truly independent and forced to be self-reliant. Despite the uncertainty of living in a new location, I believed in myself I can handle any challenges which may arise. Not knowing anyone in the area, I had to go out and make new friends.
During those years, I learned to be comfortable with myself. The more self-sufficient I became, the happier I got. That’s when I had a light bulb moment, the biggest epiphany of my life:
My true source of happiness can only come from within me.
In addition, I’m the only person responsible for my feelings. No one in the world can make me feel joy, sadness, or anger except me.
It’s a simple choice I can make.
I also discovered the reason for my lack of happiness was that I wasn’t living my dream. All this time, I’ve been embodying someone else’s – a script society has written for me.
Ever since then, every decision I have made has been aligned with my deepest desire and core values. I constantly asked myself:
“Is this action aligned with how I want to live my life?”
This allowed me to make conscious selections, and as a result, I became grounded in my own beliefs and lived with more fulfillment.
The Power of Storytelling
There are a few reasons why I just shared that story with you. First, I want you to see the most powerful lesson I learned in my journey of self-discovery. Second, I want to show the power of storytelling because all great stories entail the following aspects:
- Who you are
- Why you are here
- What struggles you have experienced
- What your vision is
- Your benefits and transformation
- Your lessons learned
- Point out common mistakes to avoid
Using my story as an example, you can see the answers to the above questions.
- Who you are
- I was a working professional living a scripted life.
- Why you are here
- I’m here to share my experience and lessons.
- What struggles you have experienced
- I felt unfulfilled despite having most things I was supposed to have.
- What your vision is
- I wanted to find the “answer” to my sources of unhappiness and lack of satisfaction.
Benefits of Storytelling
By telling a story, others can learn the lessons for themselves rather than you telling them directly.
The benefits and transformation of my story are that I now live a fulfilled life while happiness is a byproduct. My source of satisfaction comes from contributing to a meaningful cause. By helping men solve their immediate life challenges and empowering them to become more powerful, I experience gratification.
I learned that happiness is not something that can be pursued externally. It must come from within me and is a choice I can make by appreciating everything I already have.
And by serving others and seeing their tangible benefits, there’s no suffering.
Despite what society and others have prescribed to me, I get to choose what I want to do with my life.
What’s meaningful and worthwhile is unique to you. That’s something you must discover for yourself. After identifying what that is, you must take the necessary steps to carry it out.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
By telling a great story, you can teach others the usual pitfalls they can avoid.
In my story, some frequent missteps are thinking happiness can be obtained through external things. Living a scripted life is precisely what society wants you to do because it keeps the world operating at the status quo.
Being in the “rat race,” you fuel the economy with the money it needs to function. This is taught in formal education and marketed by billion-dollar companies. As a result, you’re constantly bombarded with advertisements to buy things because you’re “not good enough” as you are now.
To be accepted by society, you must have the latest fashion clothes, electronic gadgets, and a perfect body.
That’s a bunch of lies and part of their marketing scheme to generate more revenue. Understand you already have everything you’ll ever need to be successful and happy. Everything else you want and need isn’t mandatory.
True happiness isn’t based on external things or validation.
Stop thinking you’ll be happy once you have this “thing” (house, job, woman, etc.). If you’re not sincerely fulfilled with what you have now, you’ll never be genuinely happy. It’s an endless vicious path.
By sharing my story, I will help you shorten your learning curve by avoiding the mistakes I made along my journey.
Closing Thoughts
Storytelling is a powerful way to show rather than tell who you are. You can use it during conversations to connect deeper with others. This technique is powerful when your goal is to persuade or influence others to adopt a different point of view.
By incorporating a humorous and entertaining story, you’ll be more likable and charming to others. That’s because most people like to laugh.
Using personal anecdotes, you can increase your audience’s engagement by captivating their attention. You can learn and practice storytelling to create immediate beneficial results.
I am on a mission to help 1,000,000 people, but I can’t do that without your help. Please share this article with anyone who you may think will find it valuable and helpful.
Thank you very much! I greatly appreciate it!
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