[WRITING YOUR STORY]
The second of several accounts is all about writing your story. Putting pen to paper, finger to keyboard, ink to parchment, text to speech, diction to butler, angled stylus to wet clay, however you do it, it’s time to make your story.
[FIRST TASK]
Write about your life in whatever mode and method you prefer.
At minimum, write at least one thing about your past, present, and future.
When you are done, come back to this work, and we will review it together.
Thank you.
[I WROTE MY LIFE STORY, NOW WHAT?]
Now, many psychologists, such as those I referenced in the previous works, as well as popular figures and even your therapist, will often use open-ended questions. The question prompt tends to be some variation of: “Please record what kind of life you have had up to this point, include all the details that you want, and also talk about what kind of life you want for the future.” Now, open-ended questioning works well. As a psychologist, you can look for specific things. The more “I” statements, such as “I am smart” or “I am stupid,” tell you about someone. It can indicate a healthy understanding of oneself, but too many or too few can suggest personal struggles. If the sentences use simple words and are concise, they convey a different story from those with complex words and lengthy sentences. Swearing, descriptions, and the focus of your attention can all reveal something about you. A monster that is running for re-election writes differently than a child who refuses to wear his pants in public. The idea is that if you are doing it with a coach or therapist, they would either ask what you have written, or read it in part or whole. Afterward, they would ask questions. These open-ended questions have inherent weaknesses built into the system.
There are weaknesses. Time cost, misplaced topical focus, medium limitations, and lack of reiteration are the big ones. For many people, taking the time to sit down and write about their life is not a natural inclination, even for authors. There is not only resistance, but also the time necessary to write everything you want to write, which can take minutes or hours. Some may have to break up their writing sessions into multiple parts, which is always a cost. It’s easy to overlook the material that would yield the most significant benefit. The focus on everything but the best is misplaced topical focus. Writing, carving, inking, and other forms of communication tend to carry more emotional weight and are therefore more effective than texting, typing, and similar methods. The idea is that writing an English letter or a Japanese character with a pen requires a specific set of hand motions, and writing words requires a lot of particular hand motions. Meanwhile, texting and typing for your fingers are so similar in motion that it’s hard for your mind to separate the actions, which is a medium limitation. People write about their life, but virtually no one goes back and thinks through what they are rereading, which is a lack of reiteration.
What makes this process better than the standard fare is that we will focus on reiteration. Take your life story, and be ready to see your perception of life change.
[SECOND TASK]
Answer these four questions by either underlining, highlighting, or starring * the beginning and end of the sentence of your life story that answers the question.n
If there are no sentences that answer a question, then get a separate sheet of paper, document, or clay tablet. From there, write a sentence that would.
If you don’t know how to answer this question, feel free to write UNSURE. Write UNSURE in bold or caps, or both.
1 If I keep riding the river of life to my best life, what would that look like?
2 If I were blown away to my worst life, what would that look like?
3 What terrible personality quirks, habits, or people in your life need to burn away from you?
4 What aspects of your personality, skills, or people do you need to stabilize, enrich, and grow?
[I HAVE ANSWERED THE FOUR QUESTIONS, NOW WHAT?]
Welcome back. If you are reading from this point onward, you have completed the story and answered the questions. Take a moment to realize that you have succeeded. You haven’t just written some words, you have tried to define your life so that you can make it better.
That’s amazing.
Don’t let anyone take this achievement from you.
Not even yourself.
If your inner voice starts lying, if it starts saying ‘that it’s not a real achievement’, get out the metaphysical water sprayer and spritz like it’s a misbehaving cat.
Bad inner voice. No lying.
Suppose your life story could answer all the questions; that’s not bad. It shows that you have some understanding of how you and your circumstances shape your life and how you could shape them for the better. As we advance, the good we do together will refine your story, allowing you to get the most out of it.
Suppose you had to get a separate sheet for one, two, or even all the questions that are not bad. It means that there is at least one part of your life that, for whatever reason, you don’t understand as well. As we advance, the key aspect we should focus on is clarifying the critical points of your story.
Suppose you had to write ‘unsure’ for one or even all of them; that is not bad. You will have the most room for explosive growth out of anyone who takes this. It may not be fun, but it will be exciting, perhaps a bit scary, to improve these aspects of your life.
That is all for this part. Unfortunately, the next one requires more research than expected, so I don’t have a date for it yet. It may be the end of July, but it could be as late as the end of August.