I live to tell stories, and when someone says something to me like “What a story!” I know I’ve accomplished something incredible. It’s even more powerful when I can catch that I’m living through a story, or that one is in front of me – if I just say “Yes” to it.
Here are the elements of what makes an incredible story. One where you change, and the people that hear the story change as well. This is how to make an impact on the world.
When I was invited to attend COP28, I wasn’t an automatic yes. I had fears and doubts. I had fears of what my wife might say. I had fears of hypocritically taking a jet to a climate conference. I felt like I was in a struggle of trying to make myself go, and all these reasons I shouldn’t.
It was only the next morning when I was speaking to a friend of mine, Kanchan Prinsloo, when she remarked and said the words “What a story” as she reflected that I had only started speaking my impossible goal of solving climate change a year earlier, and only a year later I had the invitation to attend COP. As soon as she said those words, every hesitation I felt immediately lifted. I had complete clarity. I saw that I had the opportunity to live an incredible story, and I switched to a Hell Yes immediately. As that particular story goes, nothing could stop me at that point.
Later, the clarity from that story allowed me to articulate and create this Venn. All three elements were true then.
The first category is “Something never done before”. There’s no story if you’re doing the same old thing, following in someone else’s footprints. The person who laid those footprints has the story to tell. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a “big” challenge however, audacity has many forms. It often elicits a “You did WHAT?!” response from people.
The next category is “are you scared?” I often write about how I use fear as a compass, but it could also be said as using fear of evidence of doing something that matters – to you. The things I often fear are failure, also humiliation (“What will this person THINK if I dare say this thing to them”), and fear of not knowing the outcome, because if I know the outcome was guaranteed there would be no fear attached to it. I’m also going to add “Fear of Success” to this. It’s amazing when we are paralyzed into not doing something because the truth is our whole life could change if we succeed, and we fear what that could mean.
And the last category I like to call “Fucking Awesome”. I strive to do things and create stories that those words apply to. It’s a level beyond normal awesome. I want to feel awe in myself. I want others to feel awe. It’s a feeling. It excites. It energizes. It inspires.
The Venn gets interesting when we only connect two elements.
If we do something we’ve never done before, and it’s scary, but not fucking awesome, then it feels like pure terror. It’s also not motivating.
If we do something scary, that’s fucking awesome, but is not something never done before, then it’s not as impactful as it could have been. It might be personally rewarding, but will never be as amplified as it could have been.
And if you do something never done before, that’s fucking awesome, but it wasn’t scary: You didn’t go far enough. What might become possible if you did?
And combining all three? You become unstoppable. Even your failures become part of a story so compelling that they transform into stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks. You transform, and you transform the world and everyone around you.
Use this Venn as a check-in to challenge yourself and up your game.
I’m using this Venn to guide what I’m creating next. I actually don’t know what I’m creating next. The only thing is I’ve decided to collaborate on an event with my friend, Shermain Melton. I’m using this Venn to help craft what it is. It’ll be something never done before, something that scares me, and something fucking awesome. That will overlap with what he’s bringing, and together we will make something wholly unique and incredible.
We’ve committed to a date, October 2, 3, 4. It will be in Toronto, Canada. And I don’t even know what it is we’re creating. I’m living through this story right now.
If I’m honest, I’m afraid of success more than failure. I’ve made failure into a sport, but success means my life changes. I’m fighting through my own complacency by challenging myself to create my next great story.
And if you want to lean into your fear with me, and challenge yourself: Use this Zoom link to connect with me and let’s talk about what you’re afraid of doing right now.
And that hit of fear you’re feeling at the thought of talking this out with me in this moment? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Use that, and click this link: https://calendly.com/chrisfrolic/a-scary-conversation
What if the price paid wasn’t of failure, but of the slow death of possibility?
