πŸ’‘ The Power of Stories We Tell Ourselves


Hi Reader! πŸ‘‹
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Happy Labor Day weekend to all my friends in the U.S. β€” and, uh, happy regular ol' weekend to everyone outside of the states.
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Last week, I had the opportunity to facilitate a fun and powerful workshop for executives at a Fortune 500 company. My favorite part wasn't just how energized the group was, or how meaningful the work is for the company, or the amazing feedback from participants saying things like, "It was energizing, inclusive β€” and we achieved a LOT, in less than 48 hours," or the feedback from the CEO afterwards (responding to what the group accomplished) saying, "I have to tell you that I'm really impressed β€” it's way beyond my expectations."
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All that was wonderful β€” but my favorite part is that I got the opportunity thanks to a referral from someone on this email list.
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So, if you hear of anyone planning an executive workshop, leadership offsite, innovation workshop, or advisory board meeting β€” and they are looking for a facilitator to make it both powerfully effective and soulcrusher-free β€” please pass along my name. 😁
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Okay β€” enough hustling. Let's crush some soulcrushers.


The power of stories we tell ourselves

I recently finished reading a novel (fiction) called Wellness. On the surface, it's a great character study about one couple's relationship over time β€” but what the book is REALLY about is the power of stories we tell ourselves. The stories we tell ourselves about our careers, our relationships, our family, our aspirations, our health, and everything else. One main character in the book makes a career out of leveraging the placebo effect to help people β€” and while she's a fictional character, it's based on mountains of research demonstrating how people often experience genuine results when given a sugar pill and a good story about why the pill supposedly works. (This is also why a lot of "snake oil" products show no effectiveness in a lab, yet still work for loads of people.)
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Just after I finished Wellness, I started another book (nonfiction) called Mind Magic. This one is about the science of manifestation. Not the woo-woo aspects, but the actual brain science. A key insight is this: "The brain doesn’t distinguish between an experience that is intensely imagined and an experience that is real." Again β€” the power of stories we tell ourselves.
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What does all this have to do with making our work enjoyable?
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Because arguably the single biggest driver of whether we find our work fun (or soulcrushing) is the stories we tell ourselves about it.
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If we believe that work SHOULD be fun, and deserves to be fun, then we're likely to enjoy it β€” challenges, imperfections, minor frustrations, and all. And if we tell ourselves that work is a slog β€”Β something to trudge through between weekends β€”Β then THAT'S how we'll experience it.
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If we're looking for faults, we'll find them. If we're looking for fun, we'll find it.
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But only one of these approaches will give us energy, passion, focus, and infectious joy to share with colleagues.
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​Reminds me of a quote I love:​
"Pessimists are more often right β€” but optimists are more often successful."


This week's creative thinking workout:

At the beginning of this newsletter, I mentioned a corporate workshop I ran last week. At the end of the first day, let's just say the ideas weren't where we wanted them to be yet. It was easy to feel discouraged. But by the end of day two, the teams were glowing with pride.
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It was a good reminder of the Creative Process.
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I often say that creative professionals' superpower isn't "being creative" β€” it's "being resilient." They know that it takes hundreds of bad ideas to get to a decent one, and hundreds of decent ideas to get to a great one.
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They know that "day one" ideas are highly unlikely to be the best β€” or even very good. But they're part of the process. We can't get to the great ones without going through the others.
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For people that aren't used to it, this early stage doesn't feel good. People think maybe they aren't good at this creativity thing β€” when in reality, they simply haven't kept going enough yet.
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So, let's exercise the creative process and get our brains more used to it.
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​A simple way to do it:

  • Grab a piece of paper
  • Think of a key challenge or problem you'd like to attack
  • In three minutes, write down ten ideas.
  • Don't over think them. If you're running out of time, write faster and let the ideas be even worse.
  • Put the paper away and sleep on it.
  • Do the same thing tomorrow.
  • Then do it again the next day.
  • Repeat as often as you like.
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This teaches us to be less precious, for one.
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But also, every day, the ideas will get better. Yesterday's bad idea might be tomorrow brilliant idea thanks to a little change or adjustment that wasn't easy to see originally.


Smiles,
​-Tim-​
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Founder / CEO / Crusher of Soulcrushers @ Let's Lightbulb

Let's Lightbulb is a strategic facilitation consultancy, specializing in outcome-based workshops, off-sites, sprints and trainings. We specialize in working with leadership teams, inspiring creative thinking, and keeping things soulcrusher-free.

If you know of anyone looking for a facilitator for any of the above, we'd appreciate you sharing our info.


Every week in this newsletter, I share how to reduce the stuff that makes our work not-fun, and increase the stuff that makes work fun.

It's 98.3% Pollyanna-thinking-free.

Thanks for reading, and please share with friends and colleagues that might find it valuable β€” because we need more fun people in the world.


If you care enough to read this tiny print at the very end of the email, you probably care enough to tell a friend about this newsletter. Thanks!

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If you're getting this email, you either signed up at LetsLightbulb.com or via a webinar registration. If you're no longer interested, you can unsubscribe here or adjust your preferences here.
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Lightbulb, inc.
3415 South Sepulveda Blvd. #1126, Los Angeles, CA 90034

Crushing the Soulcrushers

A weekly newsletter that helps people be more successful at work, by enjoying it more. Every Sunday, you'll get fun and actionable tips on how to facilitate stronger creative thinking and make your work fun again.

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