Why are you so tired? You know why — it’s all the stress. But what you don’t know is how to get the monkey off of your back. So how do you get the monkey off your back? Write him out of the story.

Stay with me now.

Because you might feel like rolling your eyes when you read this —

Or you might stop reading altogether.

Which would be a shame.

Because the next few minutes could change your life.

But only if you keep reading.

I know you’re tired.

In fact —

You’re sick and tired of feeling tired.

You’re disappointed.

Because in your mind’s eye, you know you can do better.

And yet —

You can’t seem to make it better.

No matter how hard you try.

New day — same story.

When what you need is a new story.

So change your story.

And this is where I might lose you — if I haven’t lost you already.

But the fact is —

Your life is a story.

And the question is —

Who’s telling the story?

Seriously.

Are you telling the story, or is your boss?

Or maybe it’s your partner or your children or your parents — or the news media.

Please — stop for a minute and listen.

Because I’d like for you to stop reading for a minute, close your eyes and ask yourself three simple questions:

• What’s my story?
• Who’s telling it?
• Is it a good story?

And what did you find?

What you might have found is that you feel trapped in a story that you don’t really like —

But you don’t know how to change it.

And that monkey on your back keeps getting bigger —

And having a grand old time.

While your stress is building —

And it’s wearing you out, bending your back and making you tired.

Ready to tell a better story?

So — please do this now.

Please close your eyes again and ask yourself three new questions:

• What do I want?
• What’s in my way?
• What one small change will make a better story?

Because if you want a better life, you’ve got to tell a better story.

Why?

Because the story you tell yourself is the framework of your life.

It’s what you believe to be true —

Whether it’s true or not.

Your story is the lens through which you see the world.

Which means that if you want to change your life, you’ve got to change your framework —

Which means you’ve got to change your story.

So change your story.

1. Start by changing your relationship with stress. And if you haven’t read my previous post on relationship with stress, you can read it here.
2. Next, think about what you’re putting into your head. Watch the short TED talk below about what you’re filling your brain with.
3. Then, write a one page essay. The title of this essay is “How I Got Here.” One page, single spaced. This is called free writing. Write as fast as you can. A great resource for this kind of writing is a little book called Accidental Genius by Mark Levy.
4. Follow that by saying out loud what you want now. After looking at your essay, get yourself 30 minutes alone. Set a timer so you won’t have to worry about the time. And then say out loud, “This is what I want.” And don’t stop there. Keep talking. Spill it out. The good, the bad and the ugly. You might want to bring along a pad of paper to catch key insights and any action items that emerge from this session.
5. Finally — find an accountability partner. This could be a friend, a partner, or a coach. But it needs to be someone you trust and someone who will hold you accountable to change. If you’d like to book a free session with me, you can easily do so here. But do find someone who will help you make the changes you need to make, to tell a better story and to get that monkey off your back. It’s time to write him out of your story.