how this one habit is ruining your life

About this video

Clark explains core stories as the deep narratives that drive emotions, beliefs, habits, routines, and self-image, sitting one layer before identity. He retells Michael Singer’s thorn story from ‘The Untethered Soul,’ where a woman reorganizes her whole life around a painful thorn in her arm instead of removing it, as a metaphor for how people conform their lives to avoid pain from their stories. People typically run on three to five core stories formed in childhood, relationships, or by parents, teachers, and mentors. Examples he shares include his own ‘I’m too young’ story at age 20 after a guru said no one wants life advice from a 20-year-old, its inverse ‘I’m too old,’ ’everyone leaves me,’ ‘my life is harder than everyone else’s,’ ‘I need to prove myself,’ and ‘I’m not that kind of person.’ He describes another story he developed with 200,000-300,000 viewers that he was losing people and they would click off, which became self-fulfilling. To find core stories, he advises listening for ‘I can’t because…,’ ‘I always…,’ and ‘I am…’ and journaling five to ten completions for each. Awareness is the first step, after which stories can be reframed and released, including through inner shadow shifting work he uses in his Metamorph program.

Key takeaways

• Core stories underlie identity and drive emotions, beliefs, habits, and self-image; most people run on three to five of them
• Like the thorn in ‘The Untethered Soul,’ people often build their whole lives around avoiding pain from a story instead of removing it
• Common core stories include I’m too young, I’m too old, everyone leaves me, and my life is harder than everyone else’s
• Find your stories by journaling completions for ‘I can’t because…,’ ‘I always…,’ and ‘I am…’ with five to ten points each
• Awareness is the first step; once identified, a core story can be reframed, worked with, and let go

Episode details: published November 22, 2022 · 17:07 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Clark Kegley’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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