How to Craft Your Story

A few years ago, I did a deep dive into my “story.”

I broke down all of my life into five significant seasons, i.e. childhood, college, first job, etc.

From there, I wrote out my key milestones, wins, failures, important relationships on post-its for each season. The painful parts were on one color, the significant moments on another, and key/strategic relationships on another color.

After that, I broke up all the seasons into “chapters” and determined the key themes in my life. 

It was powerful. I’m going to start doing this with my clients, and I encourage you to try it out for yourself. Really take some quiet, dedicated time to do this. 

After you have all your post-its laid out, write out the core messages and lessons for each season of your life somewhere safe (so you don’t go tearing apart your house looking for those dang post-its like I did, haha).

If you want help mapping it out, or you get stuck, I’m here for you.

YOU HAVE A STORY.

Your story is meaningful. 

Your story should be told.

I don’t mean on large stages (unless you want), but it’s something you should know and understand if you’re wanting to increase your self-awareness, meaning-making abilities, and impact.

At the end of the day, your story is not about you. It’s not for you. 

Your greatest way to be in service to others is in your story.

Here are some tips and reminders to crafting your remarkable story:

1. Use your own unique background & experiences to your advantage - no one has your perspective on the world, but they can benefit from it!
2. Take a look back at your most meaningful moments (good and bad) and write them out.
3. Think about the lessons you’ve learned along the way.
4. See if there’s a running theme between the lessons that each meaningful moment has taught you.
5. Write it down. Record it on your phone. Make sense of it all together however you see fit.
6. Practice saying it out loud to someone. It can be 3 minutes or 30 minutes - you decide!
7.  Keep practicing! Once you’ve got it, keep it somewhere in front of you so you can use it in the right moments.
8.  The more you use your voice, the more you will find it and refine it. 

Your story matters! I’d love to hear it, too.

I told my “Happy Cactus” story on the most recent episode of Seriously Though, and shared education wins and woes with two incredible women of color with their doctorate on this week’s Color Forward episode.

I'm still practicing. I still don't quite have my big "story" down the way I'd really like. I've found that as I grow more into myself each day, my story is less and less polished. What's been surprising is that my story has impact no matter how messy it might feel speaking out loud.

My story is not for me. Yours isn't either.

Go tell it!

About Alisa

Alisa Manjarrez is Vision Producer and Founder of The Happy Cactus, where powerful women gain clarity to cast a vision, create a strategy, and make it happen. Alisa produces and hosts Color Forward, a podcast dedicated to advancing multicultural women in the workplace, and she also hosts Seriously Though, a podcast for modern professionals looking to create the life of their dreams and the wealth to go with it.