Don’t Have Anything to Give? Give a Story

How Storytelling Changes the People That Hear You

Once upon a time, I was a podcaster.

I produced two shows from 2020 to 2023: Quarantine Campfire and Get Lost So You Can Find Your Way Home.

I wasn’t planning on making them the next Joe Rogan Experience’s, but I wanted to be genuine with the way I used my voice and the stories I told.

But none of the shows ever really blew up.

Over the span of two years, Get Lost (the better of the two) averaged 7 listeners per episode.

After a while, I started doubting that they were worth it at all.

Then, about a month after I aired the last episode, I got an email from a fan.

He thanked me for producing an episode about maladaptive daydreaming because it helped him find answers for his own life.

I am by no means a rich man. Not yet anyway ;)

And I used that lack of financial status to not give.

“I have nothing to give! You’ll have to take my money away from my cold, dead hands!”

But here’s a little piece of insight if you’re in the same boat.

“Giving” and “Giving money” are different things!

If you’re in a relationship, you give your love.

If you’re at work, you give your time and effort.

But regardless of your relationship or employment status, you can always give a story.

Here are some legitimate reasons why it’s actually good to give your story.

Connect with your Fellow Person

I remember when three of my friends and I were thinking about finding a sushi restaurant to go to.

“Isn’t there one in Park City? With a swordfish for a logo?” I asked.

“Yeah! Did you go?” one of my friends responded.

“Nah, I was going up there for work and had to drive through a snowstorm and the only thing I saw was a glowing swordfish.”

The table erupted into laughter with one of my friends saying with a massive grin:

You are an enigma!

By telling your story, you tell people things that you allow that person to know.

It doesn’t have to be a memoir. I had to learn that the hard way.

But it could be something you’d answer in a job interview.

Or even if you answer yes or no to whether or not you want burgers for dinner.

By telling a story, you’re allowing this bridge between people to open that makes people understand who you are.

If my friends were strangers, I’d be the guy who was crazy enough to drive through a snowstorm and find a swordfish.

What kind of stories do you want to tell to help people understand who you are?

Matthew Dicks has a TEDxTalk about this that inspired this article.

A New Perspective

I’m straight, but in middle school, I was chastised because the kids thought I was gay and would bully me like I was.

And because I was raised in a religion where that was frowned upon, I had no other way of knowing the other side.

That was until I met my 10th-grade English teacher.

She shared stories of her brother who would actually be beaten and physically hurt because of his sexuality.

When I heard that, everything changed.

I don’t share his sexual orientation, but somehow I understood what that felt like.

All from a couple of stories.

When you give your story, you give someone the ability to understand.

You give someone who never knew what something was like the viewfinders to see what actually happens.

Without stories, we get lost in our own bubbles and anything that’s not in that bubble becomes scary or dangerous.

When in reality, it’s just different.

And the more stories you take in, the bigger the bubble until it pops.

And you’re free.

So what kind of stories do you want to hear to help you discover the world around you?

Find Yourself in a Story

The way we see ourselves is nothing but a giant story that we act out subconsciously.

If we tell ourselves a story that we are worthless or not worth caring about, we act out that story because that’s what we’re told until it’s all we know.

When we start changing that story, we begin to change how we understand ourselves.

Because now it’s a different story.

That’s why things like affirmations or journaling especially can be so powerful.

We are literally documenting and changing our stories in real time!

Imagine!

If you don’t like the way things are, you can change it just by writing things out!

This can help you find what you really want and what you really want to change.

This is how I discovered Old Man Lott.

I aspire to be Old Man Lott, a guy who would see kids playing on the street in my neighborhood and say:

“You guys remind me of a farmer I met while working with elephants in Thailand.”

And one of the kids would say:

“Okay, Old Man Lott. RUN!!!!!!”

They tell their parents about this crazy story I made up and the parents say:

“No, that’s… that’s true. I mean, he’s weird, you’re right. But everything he says is true.”

And I created a new story for myself to fulfill.

Be the man who at the end of his life has so many stories to tell that he’s practically a work of fiction himself.

And now I have a compass.

So what story do you want to tell yourself to make your life fulfilled?

Then it’s simple… give people your new story so they can do the same!

Thanks for reading! If you liked this, subscribe or check out this other story on giving that I think you’ll like!