Is it just me or have you noticed that everyone seems to be talking about how important it is to “tell your story” these days?
At the last Mindshare Summit, I met two people whose businesses were solely dedicated to helping people tell their story.
Now, I love a good story. I love telling them and I love hearing them. Talking to these two entrepreneurs reminded me how important a role sharing my story has played in the success of all of my businesses.
Think about it…don’t you want to know a little bit about the person you’re trusting with your health? Your business? Your money? Your future? Absolutely.
It’s common knowledge (by this time) that people buy from people they know, like and trust. I know I certainly do. And let’s face it, you’re more likely to remember someone’s story than you are to remember how many degrees she has hanging in her office, or what school she graduated from. What’s memorable is her life experience, and how it relates to what makes her uniquely qualified to help you.
When told right, your story connects you with your audience, gives you credibility, and makes you unforgettable.
Ready to give it a try?
Writing Your Own Story
One of the benefits of sharing your story with others is that it helps them to feel connected with you and encourages them to share their story with you. The act of writing down your story is also a great way to reconnect with your “Big Why.” What motivated you to choose your profession? How have all of your past experiences contributed to your unique offering? Who knows, doing this activity may even give you a renewed sense of self and a boost of confidence.
I know you’re busy, and the last thing you want to do is take time out to write an essay on your life story…BUT hear me out. The benefits are huge. So, I’m going to make it as easy as possible and we’re going to follow a tried and true formula: The Hero’s Journey (broken down in 12 parts) by the master story teller himself, Joseph Campbell.
I have broken down the process and inserted my own story in each section to illustrate how this can be done. Perhaps you will see parallels in your own story to make this process a little less daunting a task. (By all means, you don’t need to do all 12 steps – just the ones that apply to your own personal path.)
The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell
1. Ordinary World: This is before the story begins. It involves a bit of your history, how you grew up, and ideally will involve some sort of contraindication to the life you are living now.
I grew up in a household that believed in better living through chemistry. There was no such thing as a holistic solution to any medical problem. There was a pharmaceutical for everything.
Right before my call to adventure, I was working as an advertising sales executive in the entertainment industry. I was young, carefree, having a great time, and enjoying everything a young professional living in the Hollywood Hills could want. I had no interest whatsoever in working in the healthcare field.
2. Call To Adventure: This is your call to adventure – the thing that disrupts the comfort of your ordinary world…something that presents a challenge or quest that must be undertaken. (Anything from a voicemail to a life-changing event.)
In 1993, I had a series of car accidents: 3 in 3 months. After 8 months of seeing countless doctors an average of 3 days per week, I had rung up a tab of over $30,000 in medical expenses.
I was out of work, out of credit, out of patience, and quickly running out of hope. And I wasn’t ANY better.
3. Refusal Of The Call: This is the moment when your fears and personal doubts come into play. The problem you’re facing seems to be too much to handle.
I had tried so many therapies that did not work for me. I was pretty much addicted to pain and sleep medications and everything that would help me from the outside in. I was reluctant to try alternative medicine; and in particular chiropractic, because I’d been told my whole life that chiropractors were quacks, and they would probably make me worse, not better.
4. Meeting The Mentor: Now is the critical moment during which time you find a person or thing, receive life-alerting advice, or are given something you need to overcome your doubts and fears.
Then I met the chiropractor who fixed my body and changed my life – after half a dozen other doctors told me I would never get better. I learned how the body healed itself. Chiropractic happened to be the vehicle, but I also learned that it was a mind-body-spirit process for me to actually heal and overcome the devastating effects of my multiple car accidents.
5. Crossing The Threshold: Here, you truly begin your quest (physical, spiritual, or emotional). This is your commitment to your journey.
As soon as I got back on my feet, I began working in the office of the doctor who fixed me. I started sharing my story with every new patient that we saw and began empowering others to take control of their health. I had found my passion.
I also had been given the opportunity to create the type of office environment that I personally hadn’t experienced in my quest to get better: one that was inviting, warm, and safe… one where people felt like humans instead of numbers.
6. Test, Allies, Enemies: Along the way, you face more challenges and obstacles that truly test you. You find out who you can trust and who you can’t.
It had been a longtime dream of mine to work at American Cinematographer Magazine. I had met the sales manager a year before my car accidents and I had indicated that I would love to work there. She basically said, “Nobody ever quits here, so it’s highly unlikely that we will have an opening anytime… EVER.”
But despite those odds, after working in the chiropractic office for about a year, the American Cinematographer sales manager called my former boss and begged him to tell her my whereabouts. She tracked me down and offered me the position of my dreams.
7. Approach To The Inmost Cave: This represents your inner-conflict. Your final moments before you leap into the unknown for good. It’s the soul-searching part of your journey.
I had to really decide – did I want to move forward as an entrepreneur, running a business on my own? Or did I want the safety, security, big fat paycheck, and prestige that came with working for one of the top entertainment industry’s trade publications, the job I had dreamed of having for years?
8. Ordeal: Your deep inner crisis that you must face – your greatest personal challenge. Here, you use all the skills and experiences gathered on your journey in order to overcome the challenges that come before you.
By the time I had decided to work at the chiropractic office full time, I was $20,000 in debt from medical bills. My boyfriend (the “chiropractor”) was $60,000 in debt (student loans). I was taking a big risk to stick with running his office. He had just split up a partnership and he was only seeing 11 patients a day. Plus, the Northridge Earthquake hit and we lost our home. I knew that I had found my calling… but it was scary being in debt and homeless…and the income from the chiropractic office was definitely not paying the bills.
9. Reward (Seizing The Sword): After you face your biggest challenge, you receive a reward (your dreams come true, you gain access to new knowledge, you learn the secrets to success, etc.) But the journey isn’t over yet…
Well, obviously I chose to stick with running the chiropractic office. I learned how to create a flourishing business. I was doing all the billing, bookkeeping, and marketing, as well as doing therapies on patients, doing patient education, and taking most all of the patient intake histories.
Our business started to grow and as we got busier, I saw more and more miracles in the office. I was very fulfilled and financially, we were getting back on our feet while helping other people. I could not have been happier.
10. The Road Back: You must cross the first threshold again. You leave your world of discovery and return home with your reward. Everything you’ve learned on your journey is put into practice.
We were recognized by our mentors and our peers. Doctors from all over the world were referring patients to see us. We treated a lot of high profile individuals in our practice and were well respected in the profession, and in our community.
11. Resurrection: This is your final battle – your most dangerous test. You succeed and emerge reborn.
After 18 years of running the wellness center, I had grown the practice from virtually no collections to consistent collections of over one-quarter of a million dollars per year.
But I was no longer feeling fulfilled and I knew that I had more to offer. So, I branched out on my own and once again started from scratch to create my own business, teaching others what I have learned.
12. Return With The Elixir: You return to your ordinary world a changed person. You have the secret sauce to success. You have been through the fire and have overcome risks and dangers, either real or metaphorical, and have gained insurmountable wisdom and experience.
Now, I’m consulting health care practitioners and I’m able to guide others to create the kind of practice that has a big impact on their communities. By helping more doctors help their patients, I can reach hundreds of thousands of people so that they can experience better health through integrative and holistic medicine.
Phew! That was a rather epic journey for a simple blog post, wasn’t it? But going through this process, and taking the time to write down my story, was inspiring and oddly invigorating.
I hope this encourages you to tell your own story. When you’re done, I’d love to hear your experience with this process, and how telling your own story might be inspiring or empowering to your patients.
