How to Draw Motivation from Your Personal Stories and Experiences

Famous author and psychologist Esther Perel once said that we all have stories that we love to share with our community and that we keep referring to as go-to success stories. They put our attitudes and lives into perspective and provide us with context. Everyone has different personal stories, that tell us about ourselves, our past, and our future. Those stories tell us what we as an individual are, what we are willing to do, and what are some of the things that we can or cannot do and why. They give us hope and motivate us.

For some people, it might be a story about their perseverance in the face of difficult odds. For others, it might be a story about overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges. Still, others might find their personal story in a moment of self-reflection, where they found compassion and strength in the face of great adversity. Regardless of what your personal story entails, understanding how it shapes your motivations and outlook is an important step. People tend to tell themselves two types of stories:

Connections with Their Loved Ones – Connection-related stories revolve around life partners, siblings, parents, and friends.

Character-Driven Stories – While self-related stories are about everything that has to do with the person themselves, such as intelligence or athleticism, laziness or hard work, kindness or selfishness.

Some of the stories we have are from what we have seen in your surroundings. Unfortunately, therapists often participate in these stories by emphasizing how parents were bad, negligent, and vicious. Of course, sadly, there are all too many parents who do indeed fit that story; but other parents are sometimes solely stressed-out and incapable to meet all of their children’s wishes.

Understand the Stories That You Tell Yourself

There are countless ways to tell your story. The most important part is to begin recognizing the patterns in how you talk about yourself and your life. Writing them down in journals, talking to friends, and meditating are all great ways to start paying attention to the stories you tell yourself every day.

Stories that you tell yourself are important, but it can be tough to change the ones we tell ourselves about ourselves.

Psychoanalyst Stephen Mitchell thinks that we’re better off with these stories than without them. Our stories are the only source to know ourselves as an individual, and once we know our go-to stories, we might want to try to see if they keep us on track.

There are many possible ways to think about any situation, other than the ones we usually have in our minds. Shifting our perspectives slightly may make a difference in how we feel or react to the situations, we used to do before.

There are many ways to approach storytelling. It all depends on your goals and what message you want to send. Consider the following options.

Think of a Hilarious Incident

It should be one that totally transformed the way you feel about something now. There is a classic analogy about a truck that got stuck in a tight underpass. Every fix that the experts suggested for getting the truck out of the stuck situation would have caused damage to either the truck or the passage.

But then a young child had a different idea. He suggested that some air should be let out of the tires of the truck and then try reversing it. Guess what? It worked. This story is a great example of how looking at things differently can lead to creative solutions.

Talk about the Difficult Times

Sharing stories of personal challenges can be an effective way to connect with someone who has gone through the same situation. It can also be educational and motivational, giving our listeners. By sharing both successful and unsuccessful attempts to meet challenges, we can help others learn from your experiences.

Talk about Your Failures

Almost everyone has gone through tough times that made them realize they need to make a change. These stories of crisis or misfortune often lead to big decisions or a new direction. They’re valuable because they have universal appeal – we can all relate to them.

As humans, everyone has a story. And often, it’s those personal stories that keep us going. Some of our stories come from experience, others from inner thoughts, and or from something you’ve seen in the world around you. We learn from those experiences whether those were difficult times or good memories and move on, no matter what!