3 Reasons to Write Your Story

As you probably know, when it comes to creating and living your life — on paper — you want to share the hard-earned values, insights and lessons that you’ve acquired over the years.

By now you’ve realized what your strengths are, and you’re ready to share what you’ve learned from the experiences of your life.

Most importantly, you’ve got the time and maturity to look back. Some parts might have been difficult while others were joyful. You want to share what you’ve learned and leave your legacy to your families, friends, business associates and generations that follow.

So, today we’ll dig a little deeper into why you want to share your story. We’ll briefly explore your reasons to write your story or an important moment in time you experienced, one that shaped or changed your life. We’ll explore why writing your story can also be an incredible gift to others. As well as to yourself!

While you might still be holding onto old attitudes and ideas, you’ve discovered your voice of empowerment and strength. Standing in your own power feels right. It’s a place of certainty and even comfort. That voice rings loud and true to who you’ve become and who you’ve grown into. It feels right; comfortable too. I want to help you bring it forward.

Let’s chat! You can find me at tina@memoirmuse.com. Or visit my website for more information on how we can work together. www.memoirmuse.com

Are you ready? Then Let’s go

Why share your story now?

Your stories belong to you. How you lived, how you handled your experiences and how you succeeded and persevered — especially if the odds were against you. How you made your life a success from what you were given. How you created a life of leadership.

You’ve lived a full life. Now it’s time to share what you learned with others who can benefit from your experiences, expertise and insights.

Some memories are encouraging and will pull you forward, while others teach you their lessons through adversity and growth.

You might say it doesn’t matter — as long as you know the facts of who you are. Truth is, it really does matter to someone who is going through a rough patch and can use the support of your story as they walk along the bumpy, winding roads of life.

Whatever they are, those events and situations make up the person you’ve become. They give purpose and meaning to your lived lives. As well as the life you’re creating now.

We all have an individualized sense of truth and how we perceive that truth, makes us who we are. Not the self the world sees, but the real authentic one. The Self that makes up the authentic You.

How many times have you wanted to write your story?

· Getting through the difficulties and celebrating the success of achievement. Sharing with someone you know who can use your experience and strength.

· Maybe it was an important business issue and your team depended on you to be there for them. You had to come through. Everyone depended on you. And, you did. With spectacular results!

· What if your family made the journey from war-torn Serbia or they escaped the Armenian genocide to relocate and create new lives in the United States? Think of what they had to endure, the transition of cultures. The anxiety of not knowing how life was going to be for the family. That’s a legacy for generations.

· Perhaps it was something you watched on television that left you with a strong sense of warmth and love for your family. Maybe it was a holiday with special memories, of your family together.

· Or, a hard-to-tell story involving a difficult and traumatic experience for you. One that needs to be told to set the record straight. The experience you need to let go and be free of once and for all so you can move forward.

We all know those who would benefit from hearing our story:

· How you took a small organization and turned it into a sure winner.

· How you became the thought leader you are; the steps you took to achieve your goals.

· Someone who recently lost a loved one can use your strength and confidence.

· Someone who must stand their ground against a bully or abuser and use their voice strong and clear, with personal authority.

· Or, the person who was the bully and now has regrets about their past actions.

· How you faced and worked through an experience that left you filled with shame and humiliation and are stronger because of it.

People are hungry for what you have to share. Who doesn’t need the kind of strength and reassurance you’ve exhibited?

When we share our stories, no matter how successful or difficult, we validate ourselves, as we validate another with the same or similar story.

Reason #1 — Understand your past

• Know that everything in your life happened for you, for your benefit and you’ll see your life in a new and fuller way.

• When you embrace the past and the people who influenced you, the past opens up like a window to let the silent breeze of change and achievement flow through.

• As you harness those memories and take ownership of your life, the changes are subtle and lasting.

So much so, you don’t even feel it happening. The way you think, the way you act and your relationships with those you care about the most, are different. You feel empowered and true to yourself.

Reason #2 — Your memoir is a gift for you and the future

· As you feel better about yourself and the past, you become lighter, happier and more alive. Like lifting that window shade to let in the light.

· You become softer, more focused and confident in your decisions. Memory also opens the window to emotions and feelings. To feel better about yourself. To stand taller.

· And, when you feel really good about yourself, success and change come, a lot quicker than you can sometimes think.

· It can be a lifeline to a new future for yourself, a new career, a new vocation, a new sense of freedom.

Reason #3 — Telling your story leaves a legacy that inspires others

· Now that you’re feeling easier about telling your story, others see how it changed you.

· It will give you a deeper sense of purpose as you honor your past and step into the future.

· By getting your story down on paper, you connect the dots. For some it feels like magic, but the truth is in the telling and sharing of your story.

Your words and thoughts give identity and voice to who you are, who you’ve become. With memoir, you get to create new meaning. You can hold your own space, on your terms.

I’ve been teaching this for years and I want to help you write your story — especially when you come to the hard parts, the tough time of telling your story.

So, you’re probably thinking, how can writing a book help me?

Good Question!

Your memoir story will show you new and different ways to enjoy the rest of who you are. You have new tools to use as an adult. You will achieve the freedom you never dreamed of.

• It will show your expertise as a thought leader, a doorway into public or keynote speaking.

• It will be a vehicle to get your message out to the people who want your expertise and knowledge.

• It will give you the expert status you require as you move into higher level of leadership.

Your life will open up and unfold in ways you never expected! You’ll have a permanent record to look back on or share with others.

You’ll have a legacy that you can pass on from generation to generation.

Family and friends. Business associates. Peers.

Your book becomes a living album and will bring your memories into focus through new eyes.

In ways never before imagined. Move your memories around.

Highlight any one of them to its best advantage. Whatever you choose, whenever you choose.

Those memories belong to you.

What if I said you could write a book? I mean, really write one. How do you think you’d feel?

Awkward?
A bit fearful even?
Maybe relief!

Or, perhaps the story you have to share isn’t very comfortable for those who will read it.

A book doesn’t have to be long. Ernest Hemingway wrote his classic, “The Old Man and the Sea,” and it was a short, quick read. Timeless and beloved. A metaphor on life.

This is your story and no one can tell it better than you. Others can help with memories and as a professional, I can help you with the craft of writing — the narrative structure.

Ultimately, your memories will show you the best way to tell it.

Who am I to ask you to open your life and put it on paper?

I’m Tina DeMarco, and I help people tell the stories of their lives

Learn more at www.memoirmuse.com. You can email me at tina@memoirmuse.com

Tina lives on the east coast of the United States with her dog Beans and a kitty named Bella. She specializes in helping people write the stories of their lives.

When not working with clients or writing out her own memories, Tina spends her free time at the gym and walking Beans around the neighborhood.

(Beans is a little guy. He barks at everything, and loves to chase Bella, the cat!)