Awareness of our thoughts and emotions allows us to ask – Is that story helpful? What might be more helpful?
The Stories tool gives us a practical way to tame the thoughts that constantly flood through our mind. To manage unhelpful beliefs, feelings and behaviours. When we learn to quieten our mind, to hear our thoughts and recognise our emotions – we gain the opportunity to choose if those stories are helpful or not, and create a way of seeing the world that empowers and energises us.
The Stories tool walks us through 4 key stages:
Identify your triggers. The kinds of situations that create unhelpful responses and emotions. Understand how you feel and act in those moments and explore if you like that and if it serves you.
Identify what story you are telling yourself in those moments, what are your thought patterns, how are you looking at the situation. Then explore if that story is true or not, or helpful or not. You might even consider what limiting beliefs and rules you have that are leading you to that story.
Then explore what story might be more helpful. What mind-set or way of looking at the situation might serve you better in that moment. You might also look at what beliefs would need to change to allow you see it that way.
Then consider what that will change. How running that more helpful story rather than the original unhelpful one might drive how you feel and what you do.
When we are present in the moment, quiet in our mind and aware of our thoughts and feelings – we can tame our stories and question our limiting beliefs. We can develop new patterns of thinking that make life easier and more enjoyable. When we recognise our beliefs and stories are just thoughts we have the power to change… we are unstoppable.
It’s a subtle leadership skill, but we can coach mind-set in others. We can coach them to recognise the emotions and behaviours that don’t serve them. Identify the stories and limiting beliefs that are driving them. And create new empowering stories and beliefs –building more peace, happiness and energy and freeing people to play bigger every day.
Any group of people has cultural stories and beliefs. Things they’ve just accepted as collective truths without really questioning. When you facilitate a team getting together to ‘bust their myths’, to look at their unhelpful stories, behaviours and emotions… They can then make a choice about what ways of looking at their world might be more helpful. And make a commitment to support each other in developing these new, shared, more constructive mind-sets.
“The last 2 days have been an incredible help to me personally. And the conversations I’ve overheard with the rest of the team have been testament to the rejuvenated feeling of ‘we can do this’, both as a group and as individuals. It was very useful for me to be stretched – mentally, physically and spiritually. This training, just like all the other training and coaching we have done, will do huge amounts to shape the rest of my life.”
“After spending 3 days with Stuart it has completely changed my outlook on life which, is hard to believe in only 3 days. I’ve become aware of how I and others are thinking and feeling… And that awareness enables me to tame my mind and emotions. Stuart has obviously spent years researching this and he puts in in such a simple way. It’s truly been the most effective and useful course I have ever attended and I’m extremely grateful for the experience.”
“This was an awesome experience. A massive thank you for the last couple of days! We’ve been stretched mentally and physically; and I can't wait to put our new improved skills in to practice. I am both exhausted and overflowing with energy, a very weird but good sensation. It’s been an experience that I will never forget and massively inspiring.”
“I wanted to say how much I appreciate the work we have been doing over the last few years. And the last few days, going deep in to the energy power has been immense - and is going to set me on an amazing path. Thank you.”
