The Power of Our Stories

Ways to know and reinvent ourselves

Human beings are likely hard-wired to create relationships. Creating, retelling, and sharing stories with other humans is one way of creating meaning and making connections with others.

Every business or commercial enterprise also has a story and a history as well that is retold and shared to connect to employees and customers.

History is not truth, nor is it even based on facts. History is just a large collection of stories. Even where the facts are verifiable, you never get all the facts; thus, the story you are being told is a selective presentation. There are probably other facts in the very same story that you are not aware of that would change the entire flavor, scope, and purpose of what is being told.

This is one of the reasons why so many cultures have less concern with historical accuracy and a greater concern for the relevance of the story, for the story is an expression and reflection of the ever-unfolding community identity. There are hundreds of ways to create a story.

There is:

• narration,
• historical accounts,
• recitals,
• jokes,
• drama,
• tall tales,
• parables,
• comedy,
• legends,
• historical events,
• autobiography,
• myths,
• biography,
• exposés,
• journalism,
• confessions,
• scripts,
• anecdotes, etc.

Often, a decision needs to be made quickly — here the narrative is internal and psychological. In other stories something must be accomplished — this is built around external events that either move the process forward or become obstacles to the journey told in the story. To be a human being by definition is to be a storyteller.

A business is a vehicle by which that story is given meaning and is carried forward to the next generation of employees and customers. Each of us also owns and is owned by a personal story that we need to tell. We each have memories of the things that have happened to us. For many of us, the only sense of self we have is the story we have created. What is your story and what is the story of your business or your place of employment?

Many people have no sense of who they are separate from the story they have created. Like an actor in a movie, all they are doing is living their idea of the “wife” story, the “husband” story, the “employer” role, the employee role, reciting the “employee lines” etc. Much of what you think of as factual history is a mix of fact and fiction filtered through your memory. Living life like this is to be a prisoner of your self-created past. For many, this is often frightening to hear. It is as if who you think you are, and what you do on your job is not really who you are and not really what you do. Both are based on what you remember as being your truth. It does not matter whether it is true or not, only that you believe that it is true.

It soon becomes clear that at some point in time, you will remember things that were once forgotten. Even when you remember these events clearly, there is always the chance they might not have happened exactly as you have remembered them. Have you ever reminisced with a friend about some event, and they had a different recollection?

If you realize that life is a type of game, then you have the freedom to reinvent who you are. It is not as if you are creating a lie. Rather you are taking a look at the facts of your past from a new perspective. What you recall probably did happen, just not exactly as you may remember it. This same event is remembered differently by others. In looking back at that event, you must realize that the memory you have of it was seen through your eyes when you were a younger person. How old were you and what were your beliefs at that time? Who were your influences?

In conscious business practices, it is understood that you can re-invent your story. You can re-invent the game of your life and your business and by doing so you can experience a type of freedom that you never imagined possible. Now I’m not suggesting you lie about your past. I’m recommending you meditate on what you have been, and done, who you are, and what your business is about now.

Many geneticists believe that we are hard-wired to;

• Create and tell stories

• Hunger for a connection to our source — what theologians, and physicists alike call the “First Cause.”

Combine the two, and what you get is the creation and the sharing of sacred stories or myths. The word “mythology” (from the Ancient Greek word meaning “story-telling” or “legendary lore”) refers to a type of sacred story, often a merging of various folklores and legends that a particular culture believes to be true. Myths often use the supernatural to interpret these.

The Takeaway

All successful businesses have a mythology. How and why they were started; the obstacles the founder had to transcend to succeed, etc. As with many stories, it does not matter if the story at the base of the myth is true or false. To the business culture within which the myth has evolved, it is usually by definition “true.” Most businesses cannot exist without some form of story since it is this “group story” that helps to make sense of the struggles that led to success. This story will describe how the business came about and the vision, ways of questioning, and the concepts that have defined the business. The myth answers these questions for it represents a collective preserved belief within the organization even if that belief has no fact as the basis of this reality.

This story is an excerpt from my course “How to Become Really Wealthy”

©Lewis Harrison, all rights reserved.

Here are a few stories in a similar vein

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Before you go…

I am Lewis Harrison, a successful entrepreneur, and advisor to philanthropists. I am also the award-winning author of over twenty books on business, leadership, personal growth, and strategic thinking. I offer programs, courses, and coaching. I also teach seminars and speak on personal development, and life strategies throughout the world. Reach out to me at askLewis.com