đź What is the most powerful thing in the world, and why is it storytelling?
Here's why it is always so easy for us to be tricked by a story.
In the span of your entire life, how many times have you told the same story? Of the most heartbreaking moment youâve had, the most exciting encounter, or the scariest situation youâve been in? It doesnât matter if you identify as shy or an introvert, people generally live off of storiesâtelling them and consuming them.
When you wake up in the morning, you create a story in your head of how your day will go. In the meeting you had last week, you delivered a story to persuade the other party. In 2009, a man bought a random house decoration for $0,99 from eBay and sold it for $62,95 after making up a story about it.
Stories are infused in all that we do, but why do they work so well every time?
The angelsâ cocktail that makes great stories
In the viral TED Talk by presentations expert David JP Phillips titled âThe Magical Science of Storytellingâ, he shares neurological findings as to why stories hold so much power over humans. The one core reason is emotional investment. In his own words: the more emotionally invested you are in anything in your life, the less critical and the less objectively observant you become. There is also the angelsâ cocktail, which is a formula that every powerful story contains:
Dopamine, which results to focus, motivation, and memory.
Oxytocin, which creates a sense of generosity, trust, and bonding.
Endorphin, which makes us more creative, relax, and focus.
David also notes that to turn storytelling into a functional tool, everyone needs to practice it by doing these simple steps:
Believe that you are good at storytelling, because chances are you already do it a lot.
Write down your stories.
Index your stories: which of them make people laugh, which make people feel empathy, etc.
Pick the story you want correlating to the hormone that you want to induce, and tell it to the person you are talking to to create the desired effect.
Watch the 15-minute TED Talk and learn it for yourself here.
Using storytelling to your careerâs advantage
In your career, youâve probably faced a crisis or two. At this point, most people will think that having a crisis is the norm. Though that is true to some extent, what isnât true is not doing anything to change it. For the case of Chris, who is a management consultant in the United States, his health crisis turned him to shift his own story for a greater outcome. Rather than following the âalpha male narrativeâ imposed in the top consulting firm he works at, he shifts his story and move on to a job that better fits him.
Chris lets go parts of the narrative he doesnât align with anymore, and sticks with the ones he finds resourceful such as continuous learning, analytical, communication, and leadership skills. These elements provide a solid foundation for his new story, where he incorporates the traits he now prioritizes such as commitment to doing meaningful work. Chris, who now sits at a leadership role in a non-profit organization, has retold his story. Now, he is reaping the rewards of doing so which include an increased sense of humanity, coherence, and liberation.
Read his full story and the steps he went through to get to where he is now in this Harvard Business Review article here.
This weekâs feel-good story: from newbie to CEO
To close off this weekâs edition, and start off this week with a recharged mindset, we would like to share the story of how a content platform reached its peak. Spoiler alert: one womanâs determination was the key of it all.
Vimeo, a video hosting, sharing, and services platform had been around for12 years when Anjali Sud joined the company as its Director of Marketing. At the time, Vimeo was trying to strategize against YouTube. With her revolutionary idea, Anjani led the company to pivot in strategy. She then became the CEO of Vimeo in 2017. Four years later in 2021, Vimeo has now become a public company in the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).
Scroll through the story of what went down in the 11-tweet Twitter thread here.
Have you got a story to tell?
Remember that youâre an author of your own story, and now that youâve read this weekâs Monday Mavens edition, you now have the means to change it accordingly.
See you next week for more personal growth tips! In the meantime, follow us on Instagram @lifeatmekari and LinkedIn.
Cheers!