The Power of Narrative: How to Use Storytelling to Navigate Chaos
Now that we are all well-versed in video conferencing, online training, Zoom yoga classes, and all the wonders of file transfers, server overloads, and what all that comes with quarantine, I’m wondering how, in this time of change, we can use another, very ancient and highly efficient technology: storytelling.
Everybody likes a good story, particularly when, willingly or not, the hero faces some unknown challenge, with valor and courage, and despite the odds, whatever it costs, overcomes the hardships and battles, finding allies along the way, to triumph and share the victory with the community.
Sounds like a trajectory we as a collective whole are facing right now—with lots of unknown, a call for valor and courage, high stakes, hardships, finding allies, some triumphs along the way. And certainly some failures.
Let us remember that in our once ordinary life, the life of before, we have all been heroes, writing the stories as we go along.
Stories shape our lives, and we shape those stories. What power!
High-powered Tech
Storytelling is one of the longest-lasting and most powerful technologies ever. Our brains are wired for stories. And we’ve been telling stories for at least 40,000 years.
What happens when we listen to a story?
The sensory cortex lights up. In fact, more of the brain lights up with a story than with factual information. And the brain responds to story events as if they were actually happening.
The brain’s mirror neurons fire in the same patterns as the speaker’s brains. That means you feel the same thing.
What does this mean?
Stories command attention. The human brain is terrible at focusing. You daydream 2,000 times in a given day. However, in the presence of an interesting story your mind does not wander.
Stories can change the brain’s chemistry.
When there is tension in a story, your brain releases cortisol, increasing your focus and sustaining your attention. We’re only interested in James Bond because there’s Dr. No and Goldfinger.
When you have strong characters and emotion, oxytocin rushes through your blood making you feel good, more inclined to cooperate and trust. That’s why we all love a happy end.
When the hero triumphs, your brain triggers the dopamine reward center creating hope, optimism, and helping you remember and process the information.
Story as a tool
Your brain thinks in pictures, you actually feel what it feels like to be a hero of that story. Your unconscious brain doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction. This means that when you imagine yourself achieving something in the story you tell yourself, you create a pattern in parietal lobes, activate prefontal cortex, and the left side of your brain then helps you figure out how you can make that more of a reality.
Storytelling is a life hack— it gets us to focus intention, drive change, and be more productive.
So what story are you telling?
Hacking life with story
Stories are built around a hero’s journey, based on a simple formula: A protagonist faces obstacles, and then triumphs or fails.
Try looking at your life, your next step, or a project and telling your stories in these terms. Write yourself in as the leading role. What is your hero’s journey to achieve whatever that goal is?
Define a compelling purpose, turn yourself into a hero, imagine the allies, the stakes, the obstacles and how you overcome them to triumph.
This is the hack.
Remember, your brain is lazy and wants to be safe, it wants to make sure your outside world matches the internal maps you have created—so work on those maps and make them real in your brain so your brain can figure out how to make them real in your life.
“Live truthfully in imaginary circumstances.”