That may sting a little—especially if you’ve been trained to rely on bullet points, credentials, or polished pitches. But here’s the truth: people don’t remember data, they remember narratives.
Think about it.
In a job interview, the candidate who lists skills sounds like everyone else. The one who tells a story—of a crisis solved, a lesson learned, a win earned—that’s the one who lingers in the room long after they’ve left.
On a date, rattling off hobbies is forgettable. Sharing the story of the time you got lost in a foreign city and somehow found the best meal of your life? That’s connection.
With a future client, talking about features and numbers rarely seals the deal. But telling the story of how you helped someone just like them overcome the exact challenge they’re facing? That builds trust.
Here’s the key: you don’t need to invent anything. In fact, you shouldn’t. The power comes from choosing a true story that matches the moment.
The right story at the right time gives you control—not in a manipulative way, but in a strategic one. You’re guiding how people see you. You’re shaping the narrative they’ll walk away with.
This is the part most people miss: storytelling isn’t decoration. It’s not fluff. It’s leverage. When you master it, you’re no longer at the mercy of someone else’s assumptions. You decide what sticks.
So stop obsessing over perfect résumés, rehearsed small talk, or endless slide decks. Start asking:
What story do I need to tell right now to make this moment matter?
Because if you’re not telling the story, someone else is—and you might not like the version they write.
We are now in quarantine for 5+ weeks. And there is no end in sight. Recently I noticed how days and weeks blur into one long stretch. Then I thought of a way how to break the quarantine monotony.
This is not a complaint. We are blessed to be in a safe and comfortable place with all necessities still being available. And I hope it’s the same for you!
Everyone is home now
It’s just a realisation of how things are different to the time before the quarantine. But at the same time the days we spend in quarantine are pretty much the same. This is at least our observation. We have routines (and it’s a good thing to have some routines and good habits in your life). And I’m used to working from home since I started freelancing and then founded my own company.
But then it changed: My fiancé is working from home full time (until further notice). We are very happy to have enough space in our home. We work alongside each other or separately if we have meetings and calls.
One long blurry day
But then every day started to look the same. No change of scenery. Not meeting other people. No distinct event to distinguish one day from another. Just an endless stream of meals, work and tasks. What day of the week is today?
Again, not complaining – everything is good and we are happy. But there is a monotony to the days that it’s hard to think of what you did yesterday or the day before.
Break the quarantine monotony
That’s when I thought of a way to break that stream. Break the blur. Make things more colorful again! And that’s when I thought of themed weeks: A theme or topic for the week.
You might have been to a themed party before and everyone knows seasonal differences. Why not bring it into your home during this time? Think of a topic, then sprinkle elements of it over your week like seasoning over a meal.
Themes during quarantine
Season-based, i. e. Summer BBQ or Festive Winter
Holiday-based, i. e. NYC trip, Ski Holiday
Geography-based, i. e. Caribbean, Scandinavian
Sunshine
Indoor BBQ
Summer feelings
Our first theme: summer
What to do during a themed week
Think of the activities you do on a daily or weekly basis. Then consider how you could infuse it with elements of your theme.
Meals: think of meals and snacks that remind you of the theme. Make an effort and prepare things you only have during that time or in that place.
Drinks: replace some of your usual drinks with something that reminds you of the theme. Inspire your senses with the taste.
Decoration: do you have anything that you can decorate to emphasize the theme? Put it on the walls or your furniture. Have some souvenirs from a special place? Bring them out and display them for the week. Put pictures up from that time, replace your screensaver with matching photos.
Music: listening to music often? Select a suitable playlist.
Video: watching something to wind down? How about themed movies or a matching TV series? One that plays during that season or in the place of your theme.
Our ideas for the coming weeks
The themes I thought of so far are: Summer, New York and Scandinavia
For our week of summer I thought of the BBQ garden parties I used to have with friends. The cool drinks we enjoyed and the things we saw during that season.
New York Times is our opportunity to relive the good memories from our holiday. We plan to reach out to friends, sing the same songs, eat the same food we had there.
Our Scandinavian-week will the time to envision being there again, with all it’s nature, foods and people.
And if you are really really into Christmas, why not have a Christmas week? Bring out the Christmas decoration! I won’t judge you ?
Now I’m now looking forward to the coming weeks. And it’ll be fun thinking about the themes, meals, drinks, decoration and so on.
Instill some excitement for the time to come
What theme would you pick to break the quarantine monotony?
Leave a comment below with your theme and what would you do during that week?
Do you know the feeling when you played something for a while and then stop. You go back to the real world but your mind still applies the same thinking patters like in the game? You brain still recognises shapes everywhere and tries to stack objects?
Since games often consist of obstacles and problems thrown at the player, you can be stuck in that problem-solving mode. Your brain might take a while to transition back.
Recently, when I finished a session of rapidly falling blocks, I still had the visuals in my head when I switched from the game to a conversation. My inner eye could still see the shapes and patterns in front of me. Until my brain finally ended up back in reality.
That’s when this metaphor came to my mind:
Sometimes life is like Tetris
You go through life and collect non tangible things sich as experience and connections. Let’s envision them as blocks for now.
Then you move through life and collect more and more; education, training, certificates, jobs. All make up building blocks of your life. And you build layer by layer.
Sometimes it fits perfectly and your CV is perfect and you land that new job. You align a full row (called Tetris in the very same game) and it’s great.
Other times it doesn’t fit as nicely; you don’t land the job you wanted or a project derails. Its like you’ve built a stack with gaps and can’t complete the row. Things seem to go haywire.
As you go along more blocks are thrown your way. More opportunities come along. And quite often there comes a series of blocks that just match wonderfully! This one goes here, that one over there. Boom, Tetris!
Building blocks of your life
In my mind I see the blocks as your achievements, jobs you had, people you met, a business you build, networks you create.
Sometimes things don’t seem to add up or don’t see to go the right way; the new role you got doesn’t fit into your career as expected, that Side-project you started doesn’t seem to lead anywhere.
And then there it is, the 1×4 block that will save the day! It all makes sense now; you met someone through the job you started and later you start working on that side-project of yours together and it’s great!
I’ve seen that in my life too: did something here, then there, worked on this then that. Years later I got to use it all again in my own business. The blocks fell into the right places. Tetris!
What am I getting at?
Blocks coming at you are new opportunities
Don’t wait for the one piece forever, use the blocks you have
When I open the fridge in our home I can count the items on two hands, sometimes on one hand. It’s rather minimal and only often contains only the bare essentials. But it was different less than a year ago when we lived in another country. Back then the refrigerator was much fuller. That means more meals were cooked at home.
We trace it back to different lifestyles and how affordable food is, or rather, how affordable dining out is:
In some places eating out is very affordable.
For some it’s a cultural thing.
Or you can get ready-made food delivered to your door (we even found very health options).
In other places going out is a luxury.
And in some places it was affordable once it is less affordable nowadays.
There are obviously big differences between these places. But also differences in how far your money goes — depending on where you live or when you live.
