Casting call- your true character: The plot points your inner critic keeps editing out
Picture this: You're scrolling Netflix and suddenly see a movie about your life. You click to read the description, curious how they'd sum up your character in two sentences.
Would they lead with "She's a hot-mess"?
Or would they write something like: "A dedicated physician who manages to care for patients while keeping her own tiny humans alive and thriving. Whether Door Dash or a home cooked meal, everyone gets nourished in her presence"
Funny how we'd never reduce a complex character to a single flaw, yet we do it to ourselves all day long.
That pile of unfolded laundry becomes evidence that you're "always behind." Meanwhile, your brain conveniently ignores the fact that you performed three procedures, helped your kid with math homework, and managed to squeeze in a ten-minute workout.
The labels we give ourselves become like those predictive text suggestions - our brains start auto-filling our story before we even look at the evidence. "Of course I didn't finish that project, I'm [insert your go-to label here]."
Try this: Write your character description. Two sentences. As if you're the protagonist in your own movie (which, spoiler alert, you are).
We bet "lazy," "disorganized," or "not enough" won't make the final cut. Not because those moments don't exist, but because they're just tiny scenes in a much bigger success story.
When you catch yourself defaulting to those old labels, pause and ask: Would this make it into my character's description? Or am I letting a single scene define the whole movie?
