My Reflection: Story Telling

Challenge & Selection:

Storytelling is a great tool that I use all the time. I work with vulnerable populations,

developmentally disabled individuals, senior citizens, and economically disadvantaged people. Many

of these people deal with oppression and dysfunction in every aspect of their lives, they need to be

empowered and inspiration is a path to empowerment. I spend a lot of time “opening people up”

and finding ways to inspire them to improve their circumstances. When I work with seniors, we

share stories for different reasons. Often they're lonely and are so happy to share stories of their

lives with me to connect and they find meaning in sharing these experiences as a form of teaching

and/or legacy, in a sense. With my developmentally disabled clients I share stories of my life in order

to help them visualize a state of independence, I use their feedback against the context of my story

to ascertain their goals, and sometimes we use stories to better understand their interests and

thought processes. I use this information to develop different strategies to try and find a way that

works for them to gain more independence in the areas they find lacking in their lives.

Application:

Our thoughts are more than just thoughts. They are what guide us through life and define us. They  mould our view of the world and those around us.

If we believe we can be successful, more often than not, we will be successful. However, if we believe  we won’t be successful, then we often fail. This doesn’t mean we are prophetic creatures, it simply  means that we come to believe what rattles around inside our heads.

If you have a growth mindset, you will believe that you can work on improving yourself or that there is  opportunity all around you. Whereas, if you have a fixed mindset, you believe you cannot change your  capabilities and that there are limited opportunities to be had.

Buddha said “The mind is everything. What you think, you become.” There is truth in this statement. If  you can control your mind, you can dictate the course of your life.

You can either be held captive by your thoughts or set free by them. Whichever one you choose will  determine the quality of your life.

In Insight & Approach:

Well, wow, that was an eye-opener.

It was the author, Napoleon Hill, who said that “whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can  achieve.” The mind is a powerful tool when it comes to aspiring to success.

This course made me see this as a tool in a new way. On the whole, this process has enhanced my

development in design thinking and innovation in a very simple way.

