The Power of Story Telling.

Storytelling is my absolute favorite tool for my growth. Back home in Africa, where I was born and raised, storytelling is part of the fabric of society. As children, adults told us stories to teach us values. Similarly, in the West, children read fables.

Even in my tribal language, Yoruba, it is a very indirect language and we use proverbs, which are one line stories to get the point across. I speak the language colloquially and one of the first proverbs I learnt was “Igi da, eye fo.” (Eghee dah, eyeh foh) Translated, it means, “The branch of a tree breaks and the birds fly away.” It is used to caution others that when bad times come, all your friends run away and it is normal, so be calm and expect it.

Of course, in my tribal language, we use proverbs, parables and metaphors like we do in the English language. We just have a reverence for the wisdom in these stories.

Every day, you are telling yourself stories. The media is the absolute expert on telling stories. Daniel Pink, in his book, “A Whole New Mind” tells us that we have to blend right and left brian strategies to create a powerful enduring presence in the marketplace.

He lists storytelling as one of the key tools we have to develop. For instance, he says if the media reports the facts that, “The king died” then all they have done is report facts. However, when they report, “The king died of heartache” we have a memorable story. Stories are memorable. Stories program our mind. Stories help us enter into sharing our lives with others. Others perceive us based on how we tell our stories.

This is the power of story.

Story is powerful and it is our historical heritage. It shapes us. It is who we are.

You are only your story. That is it. Your energy has a story and you live it out every single day in your thoughts, beliefs, emotions and actions.

Story is related to visualization in that you make a picture of your story in your brain with visualization. But the story part has to match up with the visualization.

So what has to happen now, is realize that the brain functions based on the stories we tell ourselves.  When you beat up on yourself, you are telling yourself a story. When you justify spending money and getting into debt, that is a story. When you unconsciously decide that you are not worthy of being rich, that is a story you tell yourself. When you associate a bad childhood with a diminished personal value, it is a story that shows up in your money.

When you say, you are awesome and you deserve to be debt free, you are telling yourself a story. When you say, that indeed, you are wealthy and money is not an issue, you are telling yourself a story.

So, get aware. Get very aware of your stories. And change them. Change the stories you say to yourself about yourself. Change your stories about yourself that you tell to others. Change your stories about others. Change your story about your unhappy childhood. Change your story about your money.

Your new story wants to be positive, uplifting and ever expanding. It is in you. It is on the tip of your tongue and it wants to flow out of your lips as pure music.

What is your new story?

Gratitude, Love and Miracles!