Many stories that waft through our existence come from the thick book of superstition. At the theater in general! If you want to know what I mean, whistle once on a stage, have a hat on, or after saying "Toi, toi, toi!" say a friendly "Thank you!" - And see what happens. If you see anything at all.
Nothing is left out on the stage of everyday life either. Anyone who has ever heard the story of the black cat that brings bad luck when it crosses your path from left to right will think of it every time they meet. Nothing bad has ever happened to me after such encounters. But the mouse behind the next elder bush? Who knows.
In any case, the Nobel Prize winner in physics Niels Bohr knew that a horseshoe brings luck even if you don't believe in it. Nevertheless, when it comes to luck, I leave nothing to chance and play it safe, i.e. on seven, and on the ladybug. The ladybug is commonly known as a lucky beetle, especially when it has seven dots on its delicate wings. He delights my heart in every painting. Every rendezvous a heart-loving moment of happiness! However, if you ask an aphid about this topic, you'll hear a completely different story. "F*ck the lucky beetle!", mutatis mutandis.
It always depends on the perspective.
Just the other day was Friday the thirteenth: a date that, as far as luck is concerned, is said to be unlucky. Whatever goes wrong on this pitch-black unlucky day: Honey bread lands upside down on the carpet, green smoothie on the white blouse, bus missed, activists stuck to the crosswalk, super glue doesn't hold, smartphone forgotten, runny nose, bombproof pitch flubbed, exam blown ... well, sure, Friday the Thirteenth! Fortunately, it occurs no more than three times in the calendar year. On the other hand, the same applies here: It all depends on the perspective.
If you want to change your perspective on something, it's best to change the story about it. Better said, that is the only thing that works. Before something comes into being, before something changes, the story always comes into being or changes.
Also the entire wisdom treasure of the superstition country consists of nothing else than stories, which are passed on from generation to generation in warning tone and clouded forehead. And in the Rauhnächten the clotheslines remain empty.
Why was Friday, the thirteenth, named an unlucky day in the first place? Nobody knows exactly, there are many assumptions about it, it may be that one of them is even true.
Therefore, my suggestion for the future: Let's turn it around!
Today is Third Day, the Free Tenth, the first lucky day of the New Year.
A new superstition, then? No, science! To make this day (and all other days) a day of happiness, we don't have to wait for a chimney sweep to show up, but we can contribute to it ourselves in a very practical way. The findings of happiness research show that we do the most for our own happiness and well-being when we do something for others. And that, they say, works quite effectively and directly.
In his time, Goethe wrote: "If you want to be happy in life, contribute to the happiness of others, because the good we give returns to our own hearts. However, this does not mean that one should do good in order to effectively and directly receive good in return - doing good in order to do good with all one's heart is meant. And: If one receives good oneself, accept it with a grateful heart. Getting something can be a consequence, but must never be a condition.
This is how happiness comes about, which we experience in the form of meaning. Of Purpose. Of Meaning. As the why. This is our inner story: we are there for something, beyond debit and credit, more or less, me or you. We grow beyond ourselves and into something that is bigger than each one of us.
When we do this, each of us and especially as a company, we actively bring a new story for all of us into the world, because through practical action we completely change perspective and reality: from against each other to with each other and for each other.
If you look at it more closely, there is no alternative.
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In each of our countless stories that tell of good versus evil, so that the good may win because we are the good guys, in each of these stories the disaster is already inevitably pre-programmed. If we are the good guys in the "us versus them" story, from the perspective of the others it's the other way around. Twist it any way you want, in the end the headline is, "Everybody against everybody."
You can check whether that's true on any news portal, on any social media platform. It's easy to do. Hot search tip: Check the comments ...
Maybe it's not about either/or, but about balance?
Maybe it's not about opposition, but support?
Perhaps the heroes of tomorrow are already among us, as the mentors of today?
Those who support others in achieving their goals. Inspiring instead of defeating. Building up, not beating down. Respecting, not ostracizing.
That would be something! That would be something completely new - and in my opinion, something damn good! Then we wouldn't just be telling a new story, but a better story. That's why I wrote "Better storytelling" under the logo of the New Story Academy.
Whether we're working on writing the New Story for ourselves, working on brand stories, or using the brand new Bulletproof Story Development Tool, we're always telling our own story from different perspectives in the different programs: from that of our counterparts, our mentors, our friends & partners, from that of our customers anyway. Try it with your story, you will be amazed what you will discover about yourself, your company or your brand. That's how you can turn conflict into cooperation, and everyone wins.
Speaking of the Bulletproof Story Development Tool. It's still available for a short time at a very attractive pre-launch price (launch beginning of February). Get more info here.
When I first held one of these beautiful tool boxes with the 180 gorgeous cards in my damp-happy hands, it was a real lucky day for me. And it wasn't even Three Days of Freedom. It will come again in October. So: be ready and make sure that it will be a day like any other, a lucky day. How do you do that? Look it up in Goethe.
And think of the two life-changing words of wisdom that my grandmother, old Story Dudette, always gives her students on the last day of school at midnight on Blocksberg:
1. "Be careful with superstition, it only brings bad luck."
2. "New Story. New Glory."