This morning my mind immediately went to what my word of the year will be for 2023.

And, there are still a few weeks left in this year and that got me thinking about the last 12 months and all that has unfolded. Sometimes it’s easy to look back at a year and feel like nothing has happened.

But that’s generally not very true, is it?

And that is exactly the trick my mind played on me this morning...that I hadn't really done anything this year. Ha!

It has, my friends, been a tremendous year. It is the first year in nearly 4 years that I am returning and beginning to feel like myself - my whole self - again. Body, heart, mind, Spirit. The story I'm telling this year is about being honest about what's not working, putting my hand up to ask for help, and then promising myself I would be consistent in doing my best. 

And it's made all the difference. 

So my question to you is this, what story would you tell about this year? Who are the characters, what’s the plot, and what are the climatic moments in the tale? All those elements that make up a great story unfolded for each and every one of us this year. And some years the story is a romance, a tragedy, an adventure, sci-fi (looking at you 2020…).

No matter what genre, our stories matter.  The tales we weave together over the course of a day, a week, a month, a year…they mean something. There is something there for us, our families, future generations.

There is also something there for our businesses.

What I believe has always been true, and that I’ve seen practiced with a different and more effective level of success this year is that people want to hear our stories when we’re talking about our businesses.

They want to know how we survived.

They want to know how we thrived.

They want to know how we got out.

They want to know how we did the thing.

People - you, me, that dude sitting beside you at the coffee shop right now - all of us desire and crave stories. It’s in our nature. It’s always been that way.

So as we shift out of this year, and into the next my invitation to you is this…start telling your clients, your customers, your audience, YOUR story. Tell them how you get through it (or don’t) every day. Share with them what’s working for you (or not) week over week. We want to know. In fact, we need to know how others live with the joys, pain, grief, delight, frustrations, and pleasures of being human.

Gone are the days when our business marketing should focus on being the SOLUTION or SAVIOUR. It’s a tactic that might be effective but also others us from the people we want to work with. Um, no thanks.

Hooray for the days in which we are open and honest about where we’ve been and offer a seat at the table, a hand to hold, a tissue to cry into, and a toast for celebration. This approach to marketing and business is about connection, community, about the flow of energy between humans. It’s a return to ways of being that honours our own journey, that of our clients, and that of our business.

Our stories - your stories -  are compelling and relatable. There is vulnerability and truth in the tapestry of the words, and then simply choose to be ourselves and share that, well my friend that is magic.