The Gifts from Your Story

TL; DR: Every significant experience refines and teaches you. When you examine these events, you’ll pick up lessons that make you stronger and more capable. Our Tool of the Week will help you find these gifts.

Have you ever had to go through fear or a setback?

When I was a freshman in college, I tried to protect a tropical rainforest.

The forest was a candidate for the United Nations World Heritage list, which would create funds and other resources to preserve the land and all the life that lived in this valuable ecosystem.

I was going to circulate a petition to get the area listed, but I was immediately shot down.

Rejection and Hostility

The first person I asked to sign the petition was my roommate. He laughed at it and told me it was a waste of time.

His girlfriend was hostile, saying it was wrong to tie up land and resources.

So instead of asking more people for signatures, I walked around the campus, feeling crushed and dejected. I thought about just dropping the whole idea.

Now, this is the UC Santa Cruz campus, right in the heart of redwood country. And as I walked among these beautiful trees, I realized how much I was beginning to love and care about nature.

And I also realized that if I didn't circulate this petition, nobody else would.

So even though I was terrified of more rejection, I went back in the dorms and knocked on the first door.  

The person who answered gladly signed the petition.

As I went around the building collecting signatures, people asked me questions. I could answer some of them, and I wrote down the ones I couldn’t answer so I’d be able to learn later.

A Chain of Events

By the end of the evening, I was speaking with a lot more confidence. At one point, I was giving a speech 20 about 20 people in the hallway.

That night I learned a lot about myself, and it turned into a powerful experience.

More importantly, it was a turning point that led directly to a series of events that culminated four years later in a commitment in my heart and soul to have more adventures.

The Gifts from Your Story

Now, the reason I told you this story is because you’ve also had critical turning points in your life. One event helped shape who you are and what your life is all about.

In fact, you probably have more than one story.

Understanding your story will help you understand yourself. It will give you clues about getting into that wonderful state called Flow,

Your story will help you figure out your adventure and your mission. Our Tool of the Week will help you find the gifts from your story.

Tool of the Week: Finding the Gifts

Think about these questions. Take your time.

1. What were the critical turning points in your life that got you to who you are now and where you are now?

2. What challenges or problems did you overcome by going through each turning point?

3. What were the gifts from each of these experiences? What did you get out of going through it?

4. What can you do now to share these gifts with the world?

That wraps it up for this week.

If you’re enjoying these rants, lessons, and tools, I would love to hear from you.

If you’re not, I would like to hear from you even more.

Reply to this email and tell me what you think, what you’d like to see in the future, or just to drop me a line about your cat.

I don’t always have the time to reply to your message, but I read every one of them.

Jacob