I hated this question. I used to get it once-a-day, every day, at work, via a long-distance phone call. My London boss knew how to irk me. I had just given him the who, what, when, where, why and how of my day. Asking me that question did not help. If I knew what to do, I may have been a bit more economical with my words or perhaps embellish how clever I was. Did he not realise that this phone update was my secret plea for help?

Many times, I really did not know what to do. I felt completely out of my depth and was busy second guessing myself (and him). If I said “go left”, he was quick to let me know that was the stupidest move ever. “Go right then,” was either a touch of brilliance or perhaps the first signs of insanity. Of course, I would hear about it as well though certainly not the brilliance part.

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

The smugness in his voice could not be missed. Given his experience, should he not make it easy (and more profitable) for all of us if he just gave me the answer? No. He insisted in asking the question and I had no choice but to come up with an answer, on the spot, and 3, 2, 1, brace myself for the swear-fest to follow. I really hated this call.

He never gave me an answer. I had to come up with the answer. I was responsible, it was my call. In a way, the “answer” did not matter, but the fact that I thought it over, made a call, committed and followed, did.

It took me a long time to realise this. And then I dawned on me what an enabling question this is.

“So, what are you going to do about it?” gives us the authority to make a call, to commit. And that is very powerful.

It is crazy to think that so many times we look to outsource our answers. By all means get some context for your predicament, but ask yourself “so, what are you going to do about it?” and allow yourself to think, commit and do.

So, what are you going to do about it? was originally published in It's Your Turn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

SBS, a television channel in Australia used to have a great slogan, “seven billion stories and counting”. Amazing to think that we are all so unique and we each have a little story inside of us.

We are all natural born storytellers and telling stories is a precondition of our humanity and our existence. Telling stories allows us to communicate and connect with anyone and this is what makes us successful in life.

From cave paintings, to fairy tales, to novels, fables, poems and essays; to music, dance and art — we tell stories in different ways and we pass these stories from generation to generation and culture to culture.

We are natural born storytellers and every good storyteller must remember these things:

1. We all have at least one story inside us — and if you look deep inside, you will realise you probably have more than one story.
2. We have to be true to that story — it needs to resonate with you and this only happens if the story is authentic to us.
3. We do have the power to change that story — this is by far the most important thing to remember. If you do not like the story you are telling, you can change it. Think how invigorating this is.
4. We have the responsibility to share our story — this is critical and it is how we pass thoughts, knowledge, ideas and concepts.

I like to write so I will start sharing my stories. I have a few things to say, very interesting to me and hopefully to you. Perhaps one of these stories may make a difference to someone and this alone means that it is worth doing.

“Seven billion stories and counting”. This is what makes our world great. Let’s take the time to tell our story, to listen to the stories of others, to accept and celebrate our differences, and to appreciate just how diverse our world is. Because ladies and gentlemen, this is what makes our life worth living.

What is your story?

Natural Born Storytellers was originally published in It's Your Turn on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.