Your Story

Everyone has a narrative, a story we tell ourselves about who we are and what we are about. Our own story is rehearsed repeatedly in the setting we find ourselves. Think about your work team. It is an intersection of narratives, and we use others to reinforce our own narrative. We are the main character and others’ words and actions are woven into our narrative to solidify our personal view of ourselves, good or bad.

Your Story Tainted

We also know that our narrative is corrupted by Negativity Bias, which I wrote about here. To remind you, our natural tendency is to identify and overweigh negative messages over positive ones, so we often find ourselves overemphasizing what’s wrong and bad with a situation and overlook what’s right and good.

Since this is the case, the question becomes how can we overcome this negative bent in our personal narrative? After all, no one else has any control over our perceptions of ourselves. Yes, it’s your responsibility for how you tell your personal story to yourself.

Your Story Improved

One thing you can do to neutralize your default negative slant is by expressing gratitude for your your professional career. From the first day of your first job, you entered a position that puts you in the top 95% of the entire globe—7.6 billion people would love to have your life. The financial freedom and future opportunities you have are off the charts and envied by billions of those less fortunate.

When you regularly express gratitude for your situation, blessings and opportunities, your perspective changes and you don’t overweigh the negatives that accompany your good fortune. Your career is not a 9-5 job that you casually sail through. Is your job demanding? Yes. Do you work hard? Yes. Are there seasons where discretionary effort is necessary? Yes. These are the tradeoffs you offer for enjoying your standing in the top rung of the world’s economy.

You Own Your Story

Because your narrative leans toward a negative bent, especially when things get intense and you wonder if it’s worth it, ask yourself what is more important—what you want now or what you want most? Do you want an easy, low-demanding job or a meaningful professional career? They don’t go together. In fact, they are opposite poles on a continuum. Believing that you can get rich quick by doing the minimum is just silly.

It’s up to you to establish your internal story that motivates you and inspires you to put forth the time and effort to pursue it. You are a professional, making huge contributions to your firm and clients. So be grateful and remember what you want most, in order to mind your narrative.