What is your personal narrative?

Mike Johnston is not just a good drummer. He also has a strong personal narrative. Through his drumming tutorials on his Youtube channel, I can feel his energetic presence. He uses words that are easy to understand and explains things so clearly. And it’s not just about drums, he teaches us to put ourselves in a meditative state of mind. For me, that is one strong personal narrative. I would totally listen to everything he says.

Most of us don’t realise that personal narrative does matter in life. It’s the way we tell or show to people around us. But most importantly, it’s the way we affect people.

Then the question is, how can we have a good personal narrative?

Let me share what I’ve been doing for the past couple of months.

Find your strength
Find which part of yourself that you love the most. Things that you know you are good at it. By being aware of your strength, it will give you confidence. The process will take some time and effort. But once you find your confidence, it will be just like riding a bike. One of my tricks is writing a journal — every day. I write down every success or every little achievement daily. By the end of the month, I take a look at my achievement list and realize I have completed a lot of things, down to the smallest things. I manage to get up earlier in the morning so I can arrive at the office 15 minutes earlier than usual. I manage to deliver work on time. And I manage to meditate for 5 minutes before bed.

Writing a journal will give you more awareness and consciousness about what you are capable of and what you are good at.

Talk to your audience like you’re talking personally to them

Once you find your confidence, this is the next thing to do: Talk to your audience like you’re personally talking to them. Whenever you write a caption, design a social media post, or anything else you do to put yourself out there, remember to always imagine like you’re talking personally to your audience. This is what I do whenever I design a social media post (I’m a Visual Narrative Designer by the way. I forgot to mention) I imagine a persona of my audience and I would think what is the best way to “speak their language” without really losing my self in the process.

Extra tips: Build good habits

I find it easy to help me find my strengths and grow by building these good habits:

Surround yourself with people with positive energy.

Wake up early in the morning.

Go to new places.

Read daily (Here are some recommendations. New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga).

Try new things.

Keep your brain stimulated every day.

And remember, don’t forget to put in on your journal every time you complete something or achieve something.

Personal Narrative is not just about what we post. It’s a lot more than that. That includes what we do daily, how we present ourselves, how we talk to people, everything. When you grow, your personal narrative will also grow better. Isn’t it beautiful if everyone has a strong and good personal narrative?