Your mind is a great scriptwriter. It casts someone else as a hero with abilities you will never have, to do great things you can only dream of. Your mind writes you into the story as the pipe dreamer watching life play out on the stage.

We see this on social media. I see it as I scroll. I see one picture and my mind weaves a story of their amazing life, while I physically and figuratively look on.

Do you know you have an amazing story?

An article I read over 10 years ago changed the trajectory of my life. We had lost everything and were starting from scratch. Along with the loss came shame and embarrassment so when I told my story, I omitted the loss part. Then one day I read an article in Success Magazine.

In it, two stories were told. One of a woman who graduated from one of the top universities in the country and on the same day landed a job in a highly desirable law firm. She moved to their competitor within two years and in year three, started her own business in a different state.

The second story was about a woman who graduated with 3rd class in her first degree, then she worked as a clerk in a law firm – she got the job as a favour- and eventually got fired from that. The lady was lucky to get a job as a cleaner in another firm where she was made redundant and later, homeless. Finally, so she moved in with her aunt and is currently trying her hand at running a business.

Both stories as you may have guessed is of the same person. The first version is the upbeat, inspiring rock star story while the second is the discouraging one reeking with hopelessness.

The writer of the article ended with an invitation to rewrite your story as a rock star version. I whipped out a plain A4 and a pen and immediately filled both sides with an inspiring story of yours truly. It made me come alive and I preferred this story. I also liked how it made me feel. From that moment on, that piece of paper became my therapy any time I felt discouraged, it helped to remind me of who I was.

My story opened doors and has continued to do so. Deciding not to live by my emotions happens to be a daily choice I make. Many choices on how we live need to be made daily. If you live by your emotions you will believe what your feelings define you as. You will also make decisions based not on logic but on feelings which are constantly changing. The result will be a lack of confidence because you don’t know who you are. You won’t have the courage to stick to a plan and will not get the results you hope for.

You are not your feelings. Your rock star story will serve as a constant reminder of who you truly are, an amazing individual rich with potential.

I want to encourage you to write your story. This applies whether or not you have experienced failure, we can always do better.