The Story You Tell Yourself

Dave woke up one morning feeling the same as he had for the past few weeks. The story was the same. His alarm went off, and he hit the snooze button, wishing he could stay in bed forever. The world outside his small apartment seemed distant, and nothing really excited him anymore. He had a job he didn’t like, friends who seemed to drift away, and dreams that felt out of reach.


Dave felt stuck. He was tired, frustrated, and unsure of how to change anything. But little did he know, the biggest change he needed to make wasn’t in the world around him – it was in the story he was telling himself.


Dave wasn’t always like this. There was a time when he was full of energy and dreams, a time when his friends used to call him the life of the party. He was always up for an adventure, always ready to chase new opportunities. But over time, things started to change. The fun moments became fewer, the challenges became bigger, and soon enough, Dave found himself in a routine where everything felt heavy.


One day, Dave sat at his kitchen table, staring at his cup of coffee. He had just finished another monotonous day at work. He had been doing the same tasks over and over, his mind drifting while his hands typed away. Dave sighed, and for the first time in a long while, he asked himself,


Why does everything feel so boring?


The answer hit him like a splash of cold water. He had been telling himself a story for years, one that wasn’t even true. He told himself that life was just something you had to get through, that success was for other people, not him. He told himself that he wasn’t good enough for the things he wanted, so he stopped trying.


But was that really true?


He started to think about the dreams he once had – the goals he had set, the places he had wanted to visit, the things he wanted to achieve. Where did they go? Dave realized that he had stopped believing in them because the story he was telling himself didn’t include any of those dreams. It was a story where he was stuck, where he was always behind.


And so, Dave’s journey began. It wasn’t an adventure to a faraway place, but a journey into his own mind. He started to pay attention to the stories he told himself every day. He realized that when he looked in the mirror, he saw someone who wasn’t capable of doing big things. He had told himself so many times that he was “just average,” that he started to believe it.


The villain in Dave’s story wasn’t a person – it was his own thoughts. The voice in his head that said,

You can’t do that. You’re not smart enough. It’s too late to change anything.


This voice had grown louder over the years. It whispered doubts and fears, making Dave feel small and incapable. The villain wasn’t something he could fight with his fists or run away from. It was something he needed to face head-on by changing the story he told himself. Deep down, Dave knew that the story wasn’t finished yet.


One evening, Dave sat in his favourite chair, thinking about everything he had learned. He had spent weeks noticing the stories he told himself – the negative ones, the ones that kept him stuck. But there was something else he noticed too: when he imagined what his life could be like, when he allowed himself to dream again, he felt a spark of hope.


It was then that he realized the tipping point:


The story you tell yourself is the reality you create.


If Dave continued to believe he was just stuck, just an average guy, he would continue to live that way. But if he started telling himself a new story – one where he could take small steps toward his goals, where he could be brave enough to try new things – his reality would change. The tipping point was simple, but it was powerful. Dave didn’t need to wait for the world to change; he needed to change the story in his mind.


Dave woke up the next morning with a different feeling. His alarm went off, and instead of groaning, he jumped out of bed. He had decided that today would be different.

The story he had been telling himself was no longer in control.

He was going to take small steps to change it. He didn’t need to change everything at once; he just needed to change the way he looked at the world.


At work, Dave tried something new. He spoke up in a meeting, shared an idea that had been floating in his head for months. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start. That night, instead of binge-watching TV, he took out a notebook and wrote down some of his old dreams. He started to make a plan, even if it was just the tiniest first step. He knew the road ahead would be long, but he no longer felt like he was stuck.


Slowly but surely, Dave’s story began to change. The more he practiced telling himself a new story, the more his reality shifted. He stopped waiting for things to get better on their own, and he started creating the future he wanted, one small decision at a time.


Dave learned a powerful lesson: if you want to change your reality, you need to change the story you tell yourself. It’s not the world that defines who you are—it’s the way you see the world. The voice in your head can either hold you back or push you forward. You are the hero of your own story, and the journey starts with the words you tell yourself every day.


For Dave, the adventure wasn’t over. But he knew that with every new chapter, he had the power to write his own ending.

--------

And you?

I would love to know:

What’s the story you tell yourself?


I was Dave, a long time ago.

Now I help clients like Dave to fast-track their results.


Get in contact if you want clarity, confidence and ease in your life.


The story you tell yourself shapes your reality



 
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