In reviewing my goals from last year, I realized that I had bookmarked this amazing piece written last year about writing your life into a good story as an alternative to New Year’s resolutions. In this article, Donald Miller uses his know-how as a screenwriter to advise his readers on how to turn your life into a good story, one that has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
I like goals and still set them. But without an overarching plot, goals don’t make sense and are hard to achieve. A story gives a goal a narrative context that forces you to engage and follow through. People who are in great shape and have their finances in order probably don’t set goals to be in good shape or get their finances in order. They probably set goals of running a marathon or paying off their house. In other words, they think in narrative rather than goals. The goals get met in the journey of the story.
Doesn’t that sound like a good way to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions? I want to picturing my life as a story, complete with a plot, ambition, and overarching themes.
(First order of business: determine how overcoming nail-biting will fit into my new narrative. Yikes.)
Love this! Very good point. As a writer, I’m convinced.
Nail-biting will help you appreciate your hands more and make them more capable of the hard work you do. Or nail-biting will allow you to paint your nails twice a month which will be a “mini me-cation.” Haha.