Own your story

I am talking a lot about this topic lately!

I think we don’t have one story, but we have different stories or better… I believe, we have one story cut in different pieces, bringing us different experiences and different learnings, shaping the person we are.

Some of the stories we don’t control in our life like we don’t control where we come from, our family, our childhood…

Most of our “non-controlled stories” are in our early stages in our life, but we grow, we become more aware, we start to make decisions, and we have the ability to define the next chapters in your our story, our life!

I have been thinking a lot what is the story I want to build in my life?

What story do I want to tell my grandchildren, to my great-grandchildren?

It is powerful!! It is so powerful!!!

I went to a conference this month, Rise Business in Charleston, South Carolina, and there was a speaker, Scott Miller, talking about Leadership. He just launched a book, Management Mess to Leadership Success, which explains the 30 leadership challenges. Check the website, because it is very interesting.

The keynote was following some of those challenges, we had some cards to follow, we talked about the following:

• Challenge #3 – Listening First
• Challenge #4 – Declare your intent
• Challenge #5 – Make time for relationships
• Challenge #11 – check your paradigms
• Challenge #12 – Lead difficult conversations
• Challenge #21 – Allow others to be smart

There were stories, really good stories about all these topics, but there was one that resonates with me…Challenge #11…

Check your paradigms, be aware of the environment you are in, assess the relationships you have, and what they bring to you, what are the beliefs you have in life, and if they are aligned with your goals.

We are not the ones we were told to, we are not the ones we were taught to be!

Unless you want it!

I felt this was really powerful, linked to the end of the keynote, which the speaker asked us when we arrive at home, to get a whisk and tell our story, without filters! Just go ahead, let your mind flow, and tell who you are, who you want to be, tell about your fears, tell about your dreams…

I did it!!!

It was not comfortable!

Tell my story with a whisk in my hand, didn’t feel very good…

I got the whisk, and started to talk like, “Today it was a great day!”, “I love my family”, “I need to make dinner”…

Hahahah!!! Seriously try and let me know!

Then I had to stop, and start to build something more meaningful, talking about my dreams…

Then not sure why, but my college times came to my head, and I didn’t like what I saw there… I didn’t like the fact that I had to fit in and behave under certain standards. The fact I was pointed out as the communist because of the city I was coming from, without asking what I felt about it and what was my point of view. Because of that stereotype, I didn’t have a voice in the student council…so all my ideas have not listened, and I was told to take care of the admin work.

I remember also, I did the work the first time! But then I quitted this student council, and I didn’t try to take lead to anything else in my college!

If it was right or not, I don’t care!!! It is in the past!

But this brings me big learning.

I need to find my voice! I own my story! And I am strong enough to pursue my dreams!

Get a whisk at home! And start to tell your story! Own your mess! And don’t let others dictate who you need to be! 😊

Own your story!

If you want to learn more and be inspired, listen to the podcast Rise:

https://thehollisco.com/blogs/podcasts/rise-podcast-episode-123

Thank you

AnnaJo