3 STORIES THAT MATTER

We’ve been told time and time again that stories are the key.

Now there are so many story-telling experts with, blogs, books, and videos it’s amazing.

So, like one of the greatest modern story tellers, Steve Jobs, let me give you just 3 thoughts.

It seems to me that there are broadly 3 types of stories:

1. The stories we tell ourselves
2. The stories we tell others
3. The stories others tell others about us.

And what’s really interesting is this: in live events when we identify these 3 types, I ask the audience to choose which one of the stories is the most important.

Surprisingly, no one ever picks number 2. Yet programs and live events on ‘pitching’ continue to proliferate.

Most people (on reflection) suggest number 1, the story we tell ourselves is the most important — it underpins everything.

And ever since Simon Sinek wrote ‘Start with Why’ and did the second most watched TED talk of all time more and more people are understanding that.

I like to get people to it this way. Grab your smart phone, push RECORD and just complete this sentence: “I get up every morning to ……”

And just keep deleting and refining until you get one that gives you a lump in your throat.

Notice, DON’T (please) write it down before you start recording — just go for it. [I’m convinced the ‘you’ that writes stuff down is NOT the real you — hence the reason for just recording it from scratch until you get one that works for you.]

So that’s how you get to Story 1. Again, it underpins everything.

And story 3 — the one others tell others about you — is important, more so now than at any other time I suspect.

But what’s interesting about story 3 is that it’s more about what you DO than what you say.

And what you DO is the story that leads to the even bigger story, the one that really matters. And that of course is the legacy you leave.

With that in mind, more and more people are now using the stories on B1G1 to create their stories that matter. Go take a look here: b1g1.com. You’ll love what you see.