#180 – A Simple But Essential Lesson in Storytelling
No Risk, No Story
This is Adventures in Storytelling your weekly note with resources, insights, and actionable tools for better communication through storytelling. Enjoy.
I often find myself frustrated when working with traditional clients.
And when I say, traditional clients, I don’t mean older folks because this thing I’m about to gripe on has no age. When I say traditional, I mean people and organizations (when I’m working with larger companies) that have a set way of doing things and are unwilling or fearful about trying another way.
But if you’re not willing to try something different, to take what might feel like a risk then it’s unlikely your story will change in any meaningful way. Without curiosity and exploration your story (life, business, etc.) often stagnates. And for some folks that’s the point. The status quo and “how we’ve always done it,” is considered the best and only way to do it. They prefer the staid status quo over the uncertainty of possibility. What that is, is the safe way.
But in our age of disruption and what feels like cataclysmic shifts every week, an ability to pivot, to be flexible, to try another approach becomes a super power.
It also makes for better storytelling. Because pass or fail, win or lose, succeed or faceplant, there will be a story to tell and a lesson learned. (Cue “Defying Gravity” glee version which is playing on repeat in my head as I write this)
And isn’t that the point of life and isn’t that the stuff of great stories? To try, to learn, to try again as you move forward?
Just a thought, so if you’re the client afraid to try a new media approach, or the business owner certain that social is the only way to grow your business, or the person figuring out work and career certain that a resume will get them hired—considered that trying something different, taking a risk, may lead you somewhere better.
(Click the image below for even more on this idea)
A Story Well Told
My Re-Work co-founder and I are doing ONE LAST free webinar this year and it's going to be a good one. We're calling it "Unlearning Grind Culture."
Yes, you'll get the Re-Work equation and tools to help you start to heal burnout. But we're also going to give ALL NEW actionable exercises to move you from burnt out to new and sustainable ways of working. Burnout takes time to heal, and careers take time to shift, but this webinar will help get you started with both.
It’s tomorrow Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 12pm. You can register here.
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