Change Perspectives, Choose a New Story

High-Impact Motivational Speakers

Fast Forward’s CEO and co-founder Lisa McCarthy took the stage for JPMorgan Chase’s annual Women on the Move event in New York City. She shared a simple three-step model that can change the trajectory of your life. Thousands of women and men around the world are using it to have more success and more peace.

What does it mean to “Choose A New Story”? Watch the video above or read below.

Lisa’s Story

“A few weeks ago, I went to an event with senior-level executives across industries.  I met a woman who worked at a big Fortune 500 company and we had a great conversation about the change she was driving and how Fast Forward could help. I was really excited and the next day put together an excellent letter and proposal reflecting what we talked about. I pressed send and eagerly awaited her reply. A week later, there was NOTHING.  I sent another email bumping it up in her inbox. NOTHING.

I decided that I came on too strong and turned her off. She was never really interested but just being polite. I then told myself I actually do this all the time — I steamroll people. I am too much and I have to tone it down and not everyone is as enthusiastic as I am. I then proceeded to think about all the people that have not gotten back to me in 2019 and the parties I wasn’t invited to in my town. I decided they didn’t like me either. I soon felt depressed and unmotivated.  If you can relate to this story…. read on.

A few weeks later, that woman from the conference reached out to me and was interested in working together. I had wasted days beating myself up and suffering. My story that I steamroll people and no one likes me was completely made up.”

As human beings, we do this ALL THE TIME.

This is a Power Outage

At Fast Forward, we call Lisa’s story a “power outage.” Something happens and we make up a story often filled with drama and significance. Some of our stories- like this one-  are short-lived, they last hours or days and only cause a temporary power outage. But some of our stories have been with us for a long time: months, years, decades. Stories about ourselves, our colleagues, family, friends, and our circumstances. We collect evidence and believe these stories and we suffer. They hold us back in our careers. They keep us from having meaningful relationships, they impact our confidence and affect our happiness. At the end of the day, changing this perspective is difficult.

What do we mean by “Stories”?

These are the kinds of stories we mean:

  • I’m never going to get promoted, I don’t have what it takes.
  • Moving up requires too much sacrifice – better to stay where I am.
  • She doesn’t value my opinion – she’s threatened by me.
  • I’m not a good parent, I don’t make enough time for my family.
  • I should be further along in my career – I am stagnating.

Most people can relate to one or more of these stories. After working with thousands of people around the globe we know that everyone has stories like this. You are not alone. The good news is:

You can choose a new story.

Choose a New Story
In the video, Lisa shares this model and shows how to apply it using examples from her career and personal life. You’ll see how you can transform negative, disempowering stories that are holding you back into empowering stories that propel you forward. It’s all about changing perspective and taking back your power. You can immediately apply this model to your own career and life to fuel your confidence, relationships, success and happiness.

If you’d like to bring the Choose a New Story workshop to your business or community, we’d love to hear from you.