What’s your story and how are you telling it?

What’s your story and how are you telling it?

I work in PR. We think about branding and marketing and stakeholders. We think about the stories we want to tell, how and who will they be received by our public. We think about the power of perception. We even think about the fickleness of people and public perception, heck, even changing old, outdated opinions and ideologies. We think about breaking through the noise so we can be heard. And the one thing that’s constant in the world of PR is change.

I won’t mislead you though. I won’t give you PR advice on how to run a company or nonprofit or how to shape opinions about you.

But I will for a second challenge your way of thinking.

Because we all think in PR whether we know it or not. Look at the brands we choose based on stories we believe. Look at how we drive, what we drive, how we dress and style our hair, everything about us has been touched by our society, social norms and how companies have marketed their products and promises to us.

But we’re also telling stories too. We’re telling stories about ourselves and marketing ourselves in the way we live.

I want to challenge you in PR terms though to be careful with this because the most important thing about life and being a PR practitioner is having strong ethical values and practices.

Ethics: what is your life based on?

Do you have strong ethics? Are you anchored in truth and intentions for good for others?

When something is wrong or you do something that comes off wrong, don’t clarify or apologize? Do unjust things bother you and propel you to act?

What drives you? Is perception key or are you living a genuine life?

I’m a Libra by birth and personality, if that means anything to you. If not, that’s fine I’ll explain. Justice is a big deal to me. And I care about others and what they think and feel a little too much. I want to fix things and I want fairness to drive everything. I often try to live and love and share even if I share too much about my brokenness (with a touch of humor of course, got to keep it spicy).

The longer I’ve lived the more I’ve realized people are telling stories about themselves, stories that are true and some that are untrue. Smiles on socials and follower counts don’t mean success and Bible verses in bios and tattoos don’t always mean people are God honoring and spirit led.

I think we’ve been conditioned by a social media saturated culture to share the good and perfect on our social media feeds, smile-masked faces and in our surface level conversations that even we sometimes forget that our stories are supposed to be messy. And they aren’t perfect.

People need to hear that and know that. Often people are hanging by a thread seeking hope. Seeking validation. Seeking love that’s unconditional. Often they are driven by the perception others have of them. We too can find ourselves seeking to please others with our actions and personas when all we have to worry about is pleasing God. He tells us in His word He will take care of the rest if we seek Him with our whole heart. That means honoring Him with our own lives.

Who approves of your drafts? Who is in your chain of command? Who gets the final say?

It’s important to know in PR who is in charge. What and who are the chain of command your content gets approved by?

So, do you live your life and operate with God in your chain of command?

When the Holy Spirit says delete that ugly text do you ignore Him and send it anyway?

Hmmm…who gets the final say? Are you powerful enough to handle your own mistakes and destiny? Who do you answer to?

The answer to those questions determines the life you live. The success you achieve. The relationships you have and nurture in your life. Choose wisely.

What’s your message? About yourself and others?

Do you speak well of yourself and your mission? Or do you spend time in gossip and getting joy out of another person’s calamity?

This matters.

Why?

Because your message is the life you live, the eulogy they’ll read and probably embellish at your funeral. Love it well.

People won’t remember or even know how much money you had in the bank. But, they will remember how well you loved them and treated them especially as they lived through stories and pain you knew nothing about.

Love deeply. Live well. Treat people well.

Unless you want your message to be different.

The Wrap Up

Of course this was the short summary of a nice life lesson PR edition soapbox spill.

But really, what’s your story? And how are you telling it?