If no one is there to hear the story, does reality exist?
If asked what reality is, most people tell a story.
“Reality is so and so. And it is made up of this and that. The important thing is to do these things.”
You create reality in this moment.
Who are you?
This question has many answers. They’re all stories and they are all created now.
To shape reality in the way you desire you tell a story.
One of My Own Stories
At some point in my life I told myself I had to settle. Just get a job and get some girlfriend – any girlfriend (almost). Play it safe. I had a clear story about myself as someone who wanted a lot but was too shy to get it.
Then I started reading. I exposed myself to other stories.
I heard the stories of successful people.
I heard stories of shy people overcoming their shyness.
I heard stories where the hero started out just like me.
I started believing that the story could be changed. Over time my story turned into a story of change.
I started telling myself that I could learn anything.
I started telling others the story of how I have changed and how I expect to change more.
I started telling the story of how I love my life.
Surprise: I love my life. I have a beautiful, wonderful girlfriend. I do what I love. I have inner peace.
Create an Empowering Story
You are the narrator. Tell the story where you are the hero you are born to be.
We have a deep desire to be congruent. We want to be right. We want to confirm our stories. If you tell your friend that you’re a loser, you want to back it up with evidence. If you tell her you’re a winner, you want to back that up too.
Your stories affect your beliefs about the world. They affect your inner state. They affect your results and they affect how your life unfolds.
Let Go of Your Shitty First Draft
Successful authors know that first drafts suck. Anne Lamott put me onto the concept of shitty first drafts in her book Bird by Bird.
We become attached to our first drafts. We are afraid to cut away all the bad parts and leave the golden nuggets. We are afraid to rewrite the whole story because we are attached to the first story.
If you always accept the first story that comes to mind, most likely it is a shitty story.
You have the fear of failure, you are aware of it and you have decided to create gold from it.
Rewrite it.
Your first draft contains a lot of limiting beliefs.
“I’m shy.”
“I’m not smart.”
“It’s impossible to make money doing what I love.”
“Only people who know important people succeed.”
Limiting beliefs are all stories. They can be rewritten.
Start on Your Quest
A good story needs a quest – a purpose. Find your purpose for getting up in the morning. Your purpose is a story. The rest of the story flows out of it.
What do you desire?
Put your mind to work. Ask questions of your mind and you shall receive.
“What would I do if money was no object?”
“What is important to me?”
The hero does not wait – he acts. Waiting for your plot is like waiting to live. There is no magic lamp you can rub to find your true purpose.
Work with the purpose you have right now. The hero is a living entity. He learns, changes and adapts. Your current purpose might change. That just means your story has some unexpected twists and turns, like all the best stories do.
Ask positive questions of the mind to steer you in the right direction.
Learn more about how to direct your mind here: How to Change Negative Thinking into Positive Thinking
You Are the Two Main Characters
A good story needs a hero and a villain – a protagonist and an antagonist. The twist is that they are both you.
The hero is you. It is your inner desire to live fully. It is your ideal self – the you that follows your dreams and desires. It is the you that loves you unconditionally – the you that does what is right because failing is not an option.
Related reading: Attract Happiness: 3 Awesome Secrets for a Happy Life
The bad guy in the story can only be you. It is the darkness to your light.
The antagonist – the one who tries to stop you – is your limiting beliefs. It is all those stories of inadequacies. The dark side of you is born out of conditional love – all your suppressed thoughts and behaviors. You were afraid of losing love so you suppressed parts of you.
Like all super villains he was never accepted, so he went underground.
His weapons are fear, apathy, anxiety and depression.
The Merging of Light and Darkness
Your darkness is a many-headed hydra, impossible to fight. When you cut off one of the Hydra’s heads, two more emerge. He will stay hidden in the jungle of your suppressed mind. He does guerilla warfare with apathy, fear and anxiety.
The only real conflict is between these two – the hero and the villain. They fight over love, wealth and health. You find your true power when the two become one.
The ultimate battle is fought inside of you – a battle of thought.
Bring him into the open with love. Let your light and darkness merge.
Tell the story of unconditional self-love.
Stars are Made in the Process
We want to watch entire movies, not just the end. The whole movie is important. It is the same with your life – your whole life is important. It’s not about the results or where you end up – it’s about how awesome the movie is.
The important stuff happens in day-to-day life. Rocky put on a music montage and exercised for hours. That is also the part we remember.
To live a great life and be free to do what you desire, you need to love the process.
Tell the story of how you enjoy every single moment.
Let the Hero Evolve
Change is the only constant.
Embrace change and tell the story of how you learn every day.
Let your purpose change, because it probably will. Tell the story of embraced change. Not a single action was wasted. Everything has led you to this moment.
Merge your light and darkness over time. Enjoy the process because the process is life itself.
Create Great Supporting Roles
Rewrite the roles of the people in your life. The stories you tell of other people affect your life almost as much as the stories you tell of yourself.
Tell stories of friends who support you. Tell stories of how you learn from everyone. Reframe everything to become driving forces of your story.
Throw away the shitty first draft of how Bill is jealous of your success. In the new story Bill is impressed with your growth. You learn from Bill every day. You learn from everyone you meet.
Tell a story where your significant other is helping you become your true self.
When you tell better stories about the people in your life you will see drastic changes.
When you believe positive things about people, they tend to do positive things.
Sprinkle Some Love on Top
Sprinkle some love on everything, and start with yourself. Give yourself the gift of unconditional love.
Nothing beats unconditional self-love in becoming a badass hero.
You can’t lose unconditional love. You’re free to be you.
Live in the Present Scene
Let the climactic scene where everything falls into place come in its own time. The present scene is always the most important.
Step into it right now.
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