Here we are surviving the longest month of the year and – most probably – counting the casualties when it comes to our new year’s resolutions. So, let’s get over these guilt-inducing lists we make and rather aim for something that will last – a subtle shift in the way we see things.

Reid Tracy, CEO of Hay House, says that the simple shift that’s helped him most is: Instead of asking, “How do I get everything done?” you can ask, “Who do I want to be while I’m doing all of this?”

Adam Schomer, filmmaker best-known for ‘Road to Dharma’, calls this radical responsibility. “We have a choice in any given moment – to take control of how we see life, to choose to change our vantage point, and thus we are radically regaining our autonomy. Big step in the moment. And then little by little to create a new sense of possibility.”

Energy medicine practitioner, medical intuitive, teacher and author of ‘Your body lives your story’, Ellen Meredith, says that one of her definitions of true wellbeing and health is realizing that you are the author of your own story. The more you shift, the more you’ll realize that you are not the victim of everybody else’s stories. Yes, you get lots of input from other places, but you can develop stronger agency in your own life.

Ellen talks about the Storymaker, the capacity by which you turn your thoughts, beliefs and insights into physical expression and lived experience. It is your Storymaker which shapes how you experience things that happen in the world. It makes meaning by supervising how you frame moments.

She says that the stories we create from life’s experiences shape us on every level – in the body as well as the mind. In a podcast, Ellen explains it as follows: Imagine that you’re in bed at night. You wake up from a sudden noise and immediately think there’s a burglar in the house.

Your stress hormones instantly kick in. The cortisol is flowing, your muscles get tight, you start breathing more shallowly and you’re lying there straining to hear who is coming in, what is happening.

Say the person lying next to you also woke up from the sound, but he or she is thinking: Ah, the kitty just jumped off the couch and is coming down the passage to see us. That person is living an entirely different story. He or she is feeling all warm and contented, thinking: Oh, I’m going to be so happy to see my kitty that I love so much. I’m so comfortable here in bed and he or she is breathing even deeper and relaxing into the story of: I’m going to see my kitty.

Ellen says that this happens to us all the time. The body is living the story. Everything that happens in your mind activates an energetic communication in the body. We often miss the reason why we’re ill and the keys to healing because our world separates emotional, physical and spiritual health.

Your stories form the scaffolding of your life and when you can creatively participate in shaping the energy stories that you experience each day, you can deeply heal your body, mind, and spirit.

But, what if the flood of information overload you experience by constantly scrolling down screens has overwhelmed you to such an extent that your Storymaker no longer knows how to serve you? What if your Storymaker is affected by the shared energies of everyone else’s stories; by the mood in society; by the epidemic of narrative poisoning? How do you reboot or revitalize your Storymaker?

Ellen says that you shouldn’t see it as coming in to manage your Storymaker from the outside. Just show up in the moment, be present, listen and learn to see how you gain meaning, how you choose experiences and how you understand truth.

Realise that this is the way in which you create a self. You create a story of who you are and what it means. Yes, you’re co-writing your story with the people around you, but you’re co-writing it from within – mostly without even knowing that you’re doing it. So, let’s get off autopilot and do it consciously this year.

Girlfriend, when you change the way you tell your story, the kind of story you live changes. Cheers! Here’s to the wonderful story you’re going to live in 2026. – Angie Kleijn