How To Know Your Story's Next Chapter

Your story is worth telling. Let’s make sure it’s the one you actually want to live.

The Storytelling Animal

Why Your Brain Was Built for Stories—and How That Changes Everything

I have a theory:
You don’t just love stories.
You are a story.

And you can’t help it.

A few years ago, I picked up Jonathan Gottschall’s book The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. It’s one of those rare books that puts words to something you’ve always felt but never quite articulated.

Gottschall’s core argument is simple and profound:

Humans are wired—literally, biologically—to make sense of the world through narrative.

Our brains crave plot, motive, and meaning.

We can’t stop weaving raw experience into stories.

And if we try to live without a prevailing story, we get lost.

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Stories Are Our Operating System

According to Gottschall, stories are like a mental “flight simulator.”

They let us practice navigating conflict, risk, and relationships—without crashing the plane in real life.

It’s why we love novels, movies, and gossip. It’s also why we lay in bed at night replaying that awkward conversation, editing the dialogue in our heads until we feel okay about it.

Every time we do that, we’re trying to bring coherence to the chaos.

Story isn’t just entertainment.
It’s survival.

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The Hidden Narrator in Your Mind

Even when you sleep, your brain keeps telling stories.

Dreams are your mind’s way of saying, I’m not done yet. There’s still something I need to understand.

We spend more of our lives in imaginary worlds—daydreams, plans, memories—than we do fully anchored in the present.

Gottschall argues that this constant storytelling isn’t a distraction. It’s the default mode of consciousness.

You don’t decide to be a storyteller.
You were born one.

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So What Do You Do With That?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably underestimated the power of the story you’re telling yourself right now:

About who you are.
About what’s possible.
About what your past means.

If your brain is going to run on stories anyway, maybe the real question is:

Are you choosing the story?
Or is it choosing you?

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An Invitation

If you’re ready to stop drifting through someone else’s story and start living your own, I’d love to help.

Here’s how it works:

When you sign up for 1:1 Story Consulting, you’ll receive a self-guided workbook with exercises to help you:

1. See how your past accomplishments and failures have shaped your story.

2. Clearly tell your own Origin Story.

3. Begin a detailed Vision Story of the future you want to walk into.

4. Create a plan for the next six months to start living that story.

After you complete the exercises, we’ll meet for a personal session (on Zoom or in person if you’re nearby). I’ll review your work, help you get clear on your story, and walk alongside you as you step into your next chapter.

If you’ve been feeling restless—like there’s something more waiting for you—this is your invitation to find out what it is.

To get started, simply upgrade your subscription to the 1:1 Consulting option ($149) and I’ll send you everything you need to begin.

Your story is worth telling. Let’s make sure it’s the one you actually want to live.