The Story - #18
You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.- James Allen
We’re all storytellers. Not in the sense of novels or speeches—but in the private narratives we run in our heads.
Something happens, and instead of taking it at face value, we start filling in the gaps:
“They didn’t call me back—must mean they don’t respect me.”
“She hasn’t replied—she must be upset with me.”
These stories almost always lean negative. Left unchecked, they develop into resentment.
There are two paths:
Hold it in, let the story grow, and quietly poison yourself.
Speak it out. Tell the person what story you’re telling yourself.
Almost every time, they’ll disprove your narrative and help you see what’s true.
The Algorithm
Think about social media. The more you engage with certain content, the more the algorithm feeds you the same thing.
Your mind works the same way.
Tell yourself a negative story often enough, and negativity becomes your default feed. It loops endlessly until your whole worldview is tinted by it.
The fix is simple but not easy: shift your algorithm.
Engage with gratitude. With optimism. With truth over assumption.
The more you redirect your focus, the more your mental algorithm learns what to serve you.
Breaking the Loop
Here’s the catch: awareness doesn’t stop the story. Your brain will still try to fill in the blanks. The key is to interrupt it.
Pause and ask: “What story am I telling myself right now?”
Test it: “Is this the only possible explanation? Or just the one my brain prefers?”
Reset it: Swap the negative narrative for one rooted in curiosity or compassion.
It’s not about lying to yourself. It’s about refusing to let a false, destructive story write your reality.
Write Better Stories
The truth is, you are the author.
Every thought is a draft. Every assumption is a storyline waiting for you to edit.
If you don’t take the pen, your brain, or worse, your fear, will write it for you.
Instead of defaulting to the worst-case, choose to write a story that’s aligned with your values, that assumes the best in others, and that moves you forward instead of pulling you down.
Final Thought
Your mind is always writing stories.
Don’t let the wrong ones become your truth. Pause. Interrupt. Rewrite.
The story you tell yourself today will become the reality you live tomorrow.
Additional Resources
Book: Same as Ever by Morgan Housel – [Buy here]
Podcast: Modern Wisdom – Matthew McConaughey – The Art of Living a Courageous Life – [Listen here]
Stoic Quote of the Month: “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” – Seneca
Even 2,100 years ago, Seneca was wrestling with the same patterns we experience today. He reminds us that our greatest struggles often come not from reality itself, but from the stories we tell ourselves about it. Take heart, if one of history’s greatest thinkers battled this, you’re not alone.