We all are keenly aware of the five physical senses that allow us to live – sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. These senses allow us to connect with the physical world around us.
However there is a vital sixth sense that each of us have, I’ll call it your “soul sense”. Whether you believe humans are merely flesh and bone, blood and water or that we are created in the image of God with an eternal nature, I think it’s safe to say that there is an aspect of our nature, which I will refer to as our soul, that affects how we think, feel, believe, decide and choose. It’s our mind, will and emotions.
If your five physical senses are what allows your physical nature to interact with the world around you, how does your soul sense work? What things stir inside of you a deeper sense of joy and peace? What awakens in you that wonderful sense of accomplishment, creativity, desire, belonging, satisfaction, longing and hope? We all know that emotion sells. What things stir up and play to these soul emotions?
I think noted business writer and marketing guru, Seth Godin has tapped into at least part of the answer. In his book All Marketers Are Liars Godin make the compelling case that a key to tapping into our emotions, the emotions that prompt buying decisions, is telling stories. Marketers succeed when they tell a story that fits our worldview, a story that we embrace and find ourselves sharing with others. Is a story true? Well maybe not literally, but there is truth in what the story conveys. I don’t believe Wonder Woman actually exists – at least not in the way she is portrayed in comics and the big screen. However, the principles the values, the beliefs she represents, not only entertains us, they can inspire us. Stories can do that.
One of the greatest joys we have at HigherLife is helping gifted, noble people share their story or find ways to take the experience, education and insight that they have to share and present that within the context of a story. Why? Because people remember stories. They connect with stories. For centuries, long before the invention of parchment, the printing press and the internet, our experiences, our history our beliefs were passed down from generation to generation through storytelling. Storytelling is still a valued art form and form of communication. Stories help us make sense of the world. Good marketers understand this.
Sometimes the stories we tell ourselves shield us from the truth and from personal growth. They are not always productive. My son for a season of his life told himself he wasn’t as smart or as good as his brothers. That was a story. It wasn’t a productive or even a true story. And yet that internal story shaped his beliefs about himself and his actions. They held him back from his true potential, at least for the time when he believed it. I’m so grateful he tells himself a new story, a better story today.
Stories don’t have to be true to be believed. So what is your story? What is the good story you have to share with others, that will align with their beliefs, that will make people better and in the process cause your company, your organization to grow and prosper?
As you can tell from our website, at HigherLife we are all about the power of story and sharing stories to make the world a better place. If you’d like our help in defining, aligning, telling and selling your story, contact us. We’d love to help. info@ahigherlife.com 407-563-4806.