We all get stuck in life. Everyone has moments where they feel lost and alone, without a compass to guide them. What’s worse is the feeling of hopelessness that comes with it and that nagging belief that we can’t figure ourselves out. What’s needed is a technique to identify what’s going on and how to change our bad cognitive-behavioural patterns. But this knowledge is hard to come by, being nestled deep within our psyche and harshly lodged in by social indoctrinations that makes personal change such a complicated affair. Dr. Jim Loehr thinks storytelling can unwind us out of this dire maze. It takes some work, but this narrative method could indeed change our life patterns for the better.
On Overview
In The Power of Story, Jim Loehr proposes that storytelling is the best method to identify faulty life plans and replace them with a better narrative that inspires us to meaningful action. Loehr shows that life experiences can be translated into a neurological story format which can then be analyzed and re-formatted to make the changes we’ve always dreamed about. But this kind of change can’t happen overnight. Storytelling itself requires a lot of work, let alone some big leaps of faith. Ask any master storyteller the number of drafts he must get through before he finds the right story flow and you’ll understand the kind of hard work you must endure too. But it’s worth it. Besides, nothing good in life ever happened without a lot of elbow grease before it.
What’s particularly useful about Loehr’s story method is the ease in which he helps us understand what’s important to us. He begins by saying that life is more than just a collection of facts. Life is a struggle to understand what is happening to us and why. That’s where stories come in. For centuries, stories have been used to explain the world around us and our place in it. So, why not translate this truth into the most pragmatic self-help method which would be accessible to anyone whose has seen, read or even written a story?
Jim’s Techniques
Jim uses short lists to help identify which areas of life you’re more likely to find faulty narratives. He proposes simple questions to get us thinking about our lives and how we’ve been living it. Even more helpful is how he provides examples from the Human Potential Institute workshops where executives and athletes served as role-models in narrative-making exercises that worked. Often the original – and faulty – narrative is heard first followed by a revised edition that fits better, then anothe that fits better even more until a story unfolds that fits the individual’s values and goals better than the first. The result is a plan that leads to an enthusiastic spring of action towards a hope-filled future of newfound rewards or riches – or maybe just something less painful.
The central tenet behind this method is the identification of faulty story lines which are analyzed for clarity of purpose and then replaced by a draft version that will most likely only partially work at first. Why only partial? Because by far, the strongest part of this plan is that we’re give space to make mistakes. Like a good trainer, Jim gives you time to miss some hoops before you learn to get it right. It also communicates that this isn’t a quick-fix self-help plan. It’s more of a paradigm shift in how you manage your inner life with the public one. So, as mentioned before, it’s a trial-and-error methodology with each successive trial making life a little more easier to bear.
Isn’t it great to have a self-help method that emphasizes a process method rather than hit-or-miss? With Jim, you not only can fail in your narrative work you’re expect to, at first. You can even hide the truth from yourself until the full story comes out to give you the freedom you deserve. You’ll probably come up with safe answers at first, anyway, before you become more honestly aligned with what truly jives with you. Many of Jim’s clients went counter-cultural against even dysfunctional corporatism at work, all to Jim’s pleasure, and although Jim holds fast to the notion that life and happiness is about people and not things, he’s obviously aware and believes that your new life story-perspective shouldn’t be bound by anything but your own music of spheres.
Is it any wonder that Jim Loehr’s narrative work fits into Joseph Campbell’s work, insofar that both men suggest that your true life path often disrupts – even a little – your social circle? Sounds like this narrative method may actually be on to something.
Some Recurring Themes in Jim’s Power of Story
Here are some common themes in the book that Jim obviously wants you to understand and fully apply to your new life’s narrative. He repeats them often and explains them in depth for each situation they may apply. In many ways, they’re milestones to help you feel as if you’re on the right path.
“The most important story you will ever tell will be the one you tell yourself.” This line is repeated several times in the book. It helps you become conscientious as to what you’ve been telling yourself all these years and why it’s gotten in the way of living the way you’ve wanted. If you don’t become aware of this, you won’t be able to change it. It’s not an easy task; it’s a skill you need to develop throughout your life and now is a good time to start.
Purpose. Truth. Hope-filled action. These define the right narrative for you so Jim revisits more than several times to remind yourself what you’re looking for in the new draft of your story-perspective in life. He defines them as: 1) Purpose is defined by him as being people-centered, not thing-centered like money or a promotion. 2) Truth is essential to finding the most realistic narrative. 3) Hope-filled action happens when you’re so gripped by your new narrative that your spring out of bed to make it true. Because it is.
The inner voice and the public voice. The inner voice is what we really think of the world and the outer voice is what we say to the world. When the two are synced up, it means you found the right narrative as the story of your life includes other people two.
Values and core beliefs usually define a healthy story that works as well. Jim takes everyone through exercises (such as the eulogy exercise) where you imagine what people thought of you and your life. Remember that it’s a process which means you can be wrong about your values sometimes and correct it when necessary.
Rituals are behaviours that come from you new and improved storyline. You need to write them down and monitor how they change you life and also make sure you do them.
Training Missions are a small cluster of rituals that help you take a step towards your better life narrative. They need to be monitored closely and once you’ve successfully established a new habit you can move on to another training mission to change more of your life.
Jim also recommends journaling to help monitor your progress on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Surprisingly, another major facet of the Power of Story is Jim believe that self-indoctrination techniques is necessary to a better life.
A Re-Indoctrination Towards Life
To reiterate Jim’s story-making plan: It can be divided into two parts. 1) Replacing bad story elements in your personal narrative with stronger ones that work, and 2) Finding strategies to self-indoctrinate yourself into an effective plan that becomes second-nature in your life. Jim is a strong believer in indoctrination. He claims there’s no way to learn life habits without it, so why not co-opt this socio-biological process for the better.
Translation: When you learn your new narrative, you kinda have to “brainwash” into your system to relieve yourself of the earlier brainwashing. The result is a re-indoctrination of an authentic life narrative instead of the social indoctrination that probably left you feeling listless and unhappy. This new narrative should be based on your values and core beliefs, in line with the people you live with, the people you work with and the people you want to help.
The Power of Story could be a game-changer for you because it simply outlines a plan in which you can re-synthesize your life into a workable narrative that you can see and change for the better. Jim Loehr offers enough exercises and examples to show you how to do this. Furthermore, you don’t have to succeed all at once. This method is more of a paradigm shift rather than quick-fix remedy; it narrative work follows you throughout your entire life. This plan gets you started with concrete methods, strategies and concepts that serve as a road map to any newbie trying to change his or her life with the power of story. Jim Loehr’s narrative workbook is easy to use, easy to understand and applicable to anyone in any walk of life or demographic.
Purchase The Power of Story through Amazon.
