Prickly Beauty. Sometimes what seems to hurt contains a miracle.
How do you make a moment into a story? Think about what is happening to you right now. Where are you? What are you doing and feeling? How can this moment become a relevant story with a message for your clients? Feel the sweet gratitude of everyday moments.
I am on an airplane sitting between my two beautiful daughters and feeling grateful for the gifts of my life. We are on our way to visit my father who is nearing the end of his life. His body is wearing down but his mind is still sharp. I have spent many wonderful hours on the phone telling him about my new business. He is amazed at the new way business can be done over the Internet.
To be honest, I am also kind of amazed at how my business has grown and developed. I have always known about the power of story, but the range of paths and forms I have discovered working online with entrepreneurs, writers and businesses has surprised and impressed me.
Now two days later we are still visiting here in Prescott and I just returned from an amazing hike. The landscape here is nothing like the beauty in Portland. It is dry and rocky and full of cactuses. Prickly beauty is the thought that came to me. What makes something or somewhere beautiful? Sometimes it is simply slowing down to see beyond the outer layer to find the beauty and meaning in any place and any moment.
Blossoms in the desert. Look for the wonder in the places and moments that seem most empty and you will find blossoms.
To make a business story work you have to know what your goal is for telling that story. When I share these small moment stories I have two goals; one is to inspire you and the other is to teach you how to make your present moments and your old stories into powerful business metaphors to inspire and influence your ideal clients.
To begin you have to see the moments and find the stories. Next you have to know why you are telling them and third you have to know how to tell them so your audience can relate and connect to your message through the story. Start where you are in a simple way. Here for example is a way to share a short message with an image in a photo.
These pictures are one of the ways I see images and make them into metaphors.
Look into your own life and pull out the moments and stories and make the connections. Find that prickly beauty and look for wonder. Then tell the story.