Being ready to tell your story of self isn’t something that happens overnight. To find out exactly how to know when the time is right for you to share your story, check out The Chalene Show episode below!
Today, though, I’d like to cover options you have in the way you might want to tell your story of self without the fear of fallout and/or hurting someone!
Story of Self Option 1: Wait.
In this scenario, I’m referring to such times where you might fear retaliation from someone who may be involved in your story. Maybe you’re trying to:
- Protect your mom in some way
- Prevent your ex unnecessary pain
- Avoid a co-worker’s drama
Whatever it is, you can wait until you (or they) are in a different place in life. Your story is never going away.
Story of Self Option 2: Parable.
Authors are notorious for doing this. That’s why so many of the characters in a really well-written novel just jump off the page with vibrant color… they’re based on real life examples!
You might ask, however, what this example looks like when doing a Facebook Live or IGTV, etc.? One example might be that when telling your authentic truth, you alter specifics (and making anyone identifiable) so as to avoid fallout.
Let’s say your dad caused you and your family a great deal of trauma. So, you might volunteer,
“I want to share the story of someone who I know very well, who I’m very close with, whose mom was an alcoholic and struggled with addiction all of her life.”
It’s super powerful to share the pain and descriptive details even in this way because what you’re describing is very real to you.
And you’re allowing your audience to experience your story — even if they don’t know it — just the same. Hence, you’re serving them in all the ways you had hoped.
Story of Self Option 3: The partial story.
This particular example is something I did for many years. Telling a partial story is to tell bits and pieces of the fallout but not all of the specifics. Here’s what this looked like for me…
For many years, I shared on my podcast or in public speaking settings that part of our story — my husband, Bret, and I — was that we ended up at almost a half million dollars in debt; how we elected not to file for bankruptcy and, eventually, do our best to pay it all back.
My purpose in telling this one story was to help people understand that I can relate to the deepest, darkest depths of debt. And also, I wanted people to hear how much I can relate to repairing a marriage when things get really hard.
However, that wasn’t the whole story. I left out an exceedingly crucial detail. What was that detail? And, not to mention, what is Story of Self Option #4?
Well, for that and so much more on this topic, you’re going to want to scroll up and listen to the podcast! And don’t forget to subscribe to The Chalene Show for weekly podcasts dedicated to your personal development growth!
