Are you attached to your struggle story?

Do you tell yourself certain things every day about how things aren’t going for you?

Are these stories leaving you feeling stressed out, rushed, agitated, overwhelmed or frustrated?

I have definitely been there and understand if you feel this way.

But it wasn’t until I realized that, at the root of it all, there was a story I was telling myself that was causing all of my distress.

For a long time, my struggle story was, “I don’t have enough time.”

Being a working actress, a CEO, a wife and a mother with two young boys, I often felt like there wasn’t enough time in the day for all I had to do.

I used to have clocks in every room of my house (even the kids’ rooms), because I always needed to know the time.

Everything I did revolved around a schedule. Even reading to them at bedtime had to have a time limit.

One day, a feng shui expert came over and asked why I had clocks in the kids’ rooms.

I sheepishly told her, because I go back to doing my work after they go to sleep, and I need to make sure I have enough time.

She pointed out that this story was not only making me less present with my kids, but that it wasn’t helping anyone (especially me) relax.

As scary as it was for me, I decided to remove the clocks and change my story.

I started telling myself:

Telling myself this new story: “There is enough time for everything I need to do to day,” felt so opposite to everything I believed to be true.

I had been telling myself a disempowering story for so long, that this new story felt like a lie….at first.

But after a very short while, this mantra began to calm my nerves and center me.

This new story allowed me to be much more present with my kids, much more relaxed in my daily life, and actually led to me being more productive.

I didn’t suddenly get more hours in a day then anyone else, I just realized that it was my story about time that was keeping me stuck.

The same was true in my career.

I used to tell myself I needed my sides at least 2 days in advance to have a good audition.

Well guess what? That’s not always the case.

And that story will only leave you in a panic when you get a “last minute-same day” audition, or you’re asked to read 15 new pages and have 20 minutes to look at the material

Here’s my fun story in case you missed it: From Cold Read To Booking The Lead.

So, it’s really about becoming more conscious of the story we tell, then having the courage to change it, day by day, moment by moment.

Ask yourself: Is the story I’m telling myself today putting me in a state of suffering + struggle, or is it helping me to relax and allow?

If you can notice when you are telling yourself a story that is not serving you and then recognize that yes, you are the one doing it, you can take responsibility and change it.

Here’s to becoming more mindful of the story you tell.

Leave a comment here below + let me know what story you’ve been telling yourself + I’ll help you rewrite it in the comments.

Love + Gratitude,
Wendy