The Power to Tell A New Story

“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”

This is the opening line to the hit musical Hamilton, based on the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton. I am currently mildly obsessed with the music (it is soooo good) and I have also started reading the book on which the musical is based.

As I have been reading, I am struck by the fact that every circumstance in Alexander’s early life suggested that he would either die at a young age or end up poor and destitute. Instead, he is remembered as one of the most influential, if not controversial, people in the history of America.

The turning point for Hamilton came after he wrote a letter that caught the eye of some well-connected people. As author, Ron Chernow writes “Hamilton did not know it, but he had just written his way out of poverty.”[1]

I believe that you have the same power to write your way out of your current circumstances. I don’t mean with a literal pen, as Hamilton did, but rather I mean that you have within you the power to transform the story you are living with your life.

Tell A New Story

For most of my adult life I lived a story with the overarching theme that I was not enough and I lived into that story in every area of my life. At work and in my personal life, I held back from really showing up because I believed I wasn’t enough.

I covered up my feelings of not being enough by being a perfectionist. I played by the rules and did exactly what was expected of me but inside I was slowly dying. The story I was living was crushing my soul and I knew it even if I didn’t want to accept it.

Deep down, I knew I was meant for more, meant to live a life that felt far more meaningful than the one I was living. I understood somewhere deep within me that there was something I needed to do, something that only I could do and if I didn’t intentionally change the story I was living, I would get to the end of my days wondering where my life went.

It has taken work but I have learned to shift the narrative in my head and heart around how I see myself. I am actively living out a story that I could never have imagined but one that feels incredibly aligned and so right for how I want to be in the world.

More Than You Have Become

The belief of not being enough is not unique to me. I know that you are likely also living a version of your life driven by the idea that you are not enough.

Your calendar is full of activities and events that fill your days but do nothing for your soul. Deep down you sense your soul whispering that you are more than you have become but trying to change feels too impossible to even consider.

And yet you have to try. You only get one shot at this beautiful, glorious life you’ve been given. One chance to do the thing that ONLY you can do. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it feels daunting. But what’s waiting on the other side will make the risk worth taking.

If Not Now, When?

Just because things have always been a certain way does not mean that’s the way it has to remain. Alexander Hamilton’s story is a reminder that your past, or even your current circumstances, need not keep you from rising into the greatness in you. You can tell a new story with your life.

This April, I am co-hosting a three-day retreat designed to help you figure out how to live a great story. This isn’t about writing with pen and paper. This is about writing, with every heartbeat and every breath, a life story that is aligned with the truth of who you are. This is about you answering the call of your soul to become the more you know you were born to be.

If you’re ready to change the narrative of your life story, if you are finally ready to let go of the past and step into a future that feels energized and exciting, then click here to learn more and to apply for the retreat. Early bird registration ends next Friday and we would love to have you join us.

Here’s to you living a GREAT story!

From my heart to yours,

If you have some questions or you’re not 100% sure the retreat is right for you, then join us on Monday, March 7 for a live video call where we are answering questions about the retreat. You can sign-up here for the live Q&A call.

[1] Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (New York: Penguin Books), 37.