How To Tell Your Story

If I asked you to tell me about yourself what would you say? Would you tell me about your childhood, where you grew up or where you’re from? Or maybe you would tell me about some of the defining moments of your life that shaped you and your values, or tell me about your career and how you got into it? Or would you shrug off the question and say something like “there’s not much to tell”? 

Unfortunately many people would shrug off the question and write themselves off as boring or average. Not because they actually believe that but because they are not comfortable opening up. In order to share your story you have to be vulnerable and open with yourself and others, easier said than done. But something interesting happens when you allow vulnerability and share your stories anyway. It allows your listener to empathize with you and really put themselves in your shoes, which creates much deeper connections. 

So assuming you’re open to sharing your story, how do you know what your story is? It probably doesn’t seem interesting or exciting to you because you’ve lived it, it was normal or seemed unimportant at the time. Interesting stories begin from simple truths. For example, “I grew up in __, my parents were ___ which taught me __, as a child I loved __, for work I __, in my free time I love to ___, in the future I want to__.” I could give examples of this all day, but the point is starting with a simple fact about your life will lead to the story of who you are today. 

Everyone has a story, and just because they don’t make a Hollywood movie out of your story doesn’t mean it’s not worth sharing. The universe has a funny way of connecting us to the people we need to meet. A few years ago I moved back home from university to go to community college. During that time I got a job working in the concessions stand of a movie theater and I met a guy named Nahome. Nahome was recently hired as an usher and we worked together a lot and quickly became friends. He would stick around after work to help me clean up the concessions stand and I would drive him home afterwards. I told him my story, starting with the fact I just moved back home but was still unsure what I wanted to do in the future. He told me his story that he just moved to the US from Eritrea, he needed better healthcare opportunities because he lost his hand in the army back home. 

Despite his situation Nahome was an extremely positive person. He told me “you’ll finish school before you know it, 3 years will go by like nothing.” And he was right, looking back that seems so long ago but went by so fast. I believe you meet people for a reason, I know Nahome helped me and I hope that I was able to help him in some way also. But if we hadn’t shared our stories and gotten to know each other where would we be? You can learn something from everyone, and you might not see it but everyone can learn something from you too. So when you do meet someone new, share your story and ask them about theirs, because everyone has a story worth telling.