This week I got sick and tired of people saying to me “You look tired.” Until I realised they were absolutely right.
I was projecting ‘tired’ out in to my world. And that is just so unattractive!
My friends don’t want to hang around ‘tired’, my clients don’t want to engage with me when I’m ‘tired’, and participants in my workshops aren’t paying to engage with someone who is ‘tired’.
I realised I was letting myself down.
I’d been a collaborator in my own image making by telling the ‘I’m tired’ story over and over again. I talked about the big week I had ahead for the entire previous week. I talked about how I always go to bed at 9 o’clock because staying up late is exhausting, and how I have less energy since I had cancer… blah blah blah.
These are self-fulfilling prophecies! What I think and feel about, I bring about. What I focus on expands. So if I keep ranting on about being tired all the time, guess what’s going to happen?
Ugh.
After yet another person told me they thought I look really drained, I’d had enough. I declared that the game was up. I’m not going to tell the ‘tired’ story anymore. From now on I’m going to tell the ‘I feel great’ story!
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I started at a late-night networking function. I told myself how awesome I felt, how I managed my energy well, that I was engaging and dynamic, and that I had more than enough energy to get everything done that I needed to.
And I felt it too. It was a radical shift for me. Where I once would have felt like a squashed tomato at the end of the night, this time I felt vibrant, excited and energised.
That, my friends, is the power of story telling. The stories you tell yourself, that you repeat to others – they’re the ones that create your reality.
So if you don’t like what your experiencing, tell a new story.
Don’t like your money situation? Tell a new story about how you’re now discovering the means to wealth.
Don’t like your physique? Tell a new story about how your body is responding to the love and attention you’re giving it.
Scared your neighbour might burn the house down with his new firestick-twirling hobby? I’ve started talking about how masterful my neighbour is with fire extinguishers, how careful he is with his property, and what a nice, responsible fellow he is.
My challenge to you is to notice when you’re telling a story that drains your energy. Decide then and there to tell a new one that uplifts you instead. Prepare to dazzle yourself!
What story are you telling? Is it working for you? ‘
