The Story We Tell Ourselves – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

How does a story shape the course of a life?

Photo by Nong V on Unsplash

One principle of life is that each of us has a unique story, full of ups and downs that have clearly marked a before and a now (and not necessarily an after). We should look to the past to draw on its resources, to the present as the chance to build the roadmap that turns the score around, and to the future as the great novel we’d like to align with our purpose in life. Why is that so hard?

First, there’s the story we tell ourselves. We all know how much energy we spend dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, and both drain two scarce, invaluable resources, so the personal price is HIGH: time and energy. Rewriting that script may be the most important step in any change. It’s the essence of action and the root of habit. How? By knowing our purpose, why I am, or why we are, here.

The responsibility to act. As my friend and brother Sergio would say, the goals we don’t score, we’re doomed to watch go into our own net. Decisions aligned with our values, our purpose and our vision of life are the formula, the manual, for setting out on a powerful road full of every kind of challenge and, above all, of well-being.

Not everything is "simple." In a world of instant gratification, a culture that expects everything to be "easy," we’ve forgotten the value of effort. Work takes effort, and if we want a result, the work is ours to do. Resources and paths of action open up more easily when the result we want is in tune with a purpose. The story has to be our own. A company that executes a strategy copied from another will never be sustainable in the long run, and a person who lives someone else’s life will waste their resources just the same.

The score of life turns around when we dare to write the story we want to tell ourselves. The inspiration for that new story comes from our visions, from creating a story powerful, realistic and clear enough to live fully every day. The story we tell ourselves daily shapes much of our thinking, and how much action we’re willing to take. Life is a book written day by day, so the pages ahead should always be blank. The ones already written, as I said, are a source of resources. Whatever we dare to write today will come from being ready to take firm steps and live a life guided by a genuine purpose.

What story have you been telling yourself? What story do you want to tell yourself?

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. I’ve been short on time for my VELA (Watching, Listening to, Reading and Learning something) these past few weeks. Still, I’m continuing with Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. I dedicate this post to my son Gabriel, who turned 2 yesterday. I hope the story you write and tell yourself is always full of passion, effort, courage, joy, great success and all the best in life, my beautiful prince. My wife, my children and my family are my greatest treasure and the inspiration for the story I always want to tell myself. I love you.

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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