The Simple Exercise That Will Help You Discover Hundreds of Personal Stories with Viral Potential

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“I don’t have any good stories to tell.”

It’s the most common excuse I hear from online writers. They stick to facts, stats, and how-to advice. That works for average content that is forgettable. Meanwhile, the content that really sticks with readers is the stories.

I used to think I didn’t have anything worth sharing either. But after taking a storytelling course, I realized something. You don’t need to climb Everest or survive a shipwreck to tell a good story.

In this article, I'll show you how to find personal stories that not only captivate but also have the potential to go viral (without paying $197 as I did).

What happened today

Here’s a quick and simple exercise that will help you find hundreds of personal stories.

This will make you see that a lot happens throughout the day that can turn into relatable content.

Ask yourself these questions to find stories that resonate:

• What lesson did I learn today?

• What made me struggle today?

• What do I wish I had done differently?

It’s crazy how a few simple questions can lead to discovering so many inspiring and interesting stories. We usually forget they even happened.

Here are some personal examples I found last week:

• A blackout made me realize I’m 100 times more productive when I’m offline.

• I bought my first mechanical keyboard, and writing on it feels so satisfying.

• I wrote a Substack note where the hook and bullet points didn’t make sense. I realized it after two hours…

They don’t look like much, but they’ll make my future content more interesting and relatable.

Build a story bank

Most people think they don’t have any important stories to tell. That’s not true.

The real problem is that you don’t capture those stories and forget about them. To fix this problem, I keep a daily journal to write down everything I learned or did daily. At the end of each day, I write in it so I have something to work with.

You can do this using Notion, Apple Notes, Obsidian, or any writing app. A simple page where you write one or two sentences for each story is enough.

In time, this will become a huge database of stories you can use for:

• Newsletters

• Substack notes

• Sales pages

• Blog posts

Try adding five or ten fresh stories each week. After a few months, you’ll have a huge collection.

Why “boring” stories matter

Crazy stories that sound like, “I almost died,” or “I made a million dollars in my first month” are great for curiosity but lack something important. These stories feel unrelatable, and they fail to help the reader.

A boring story about how you used your side hustle money to buy groceries is much easier to relate to than a mind-blowing story about selling businesses for millions.

For example, I wrote a Substack note about something simple, like earning my first paid subscriber, and it’s my most popular Substack note.

You might think these are just two sentences, not a story. But you can tell a story with a few words.

From these two sentences, it’s clear that:

• This is a major turning point for the author, marking a transformative experience.

• The reader can tell the author has worked hard to achieve this moment.

• The note expresses gratitude to their subscriber and acknowledges the journey.

This note alone is responsible for around 50 new subscribers to my newsletter.

These “boring” stories can be found everywhere in your daily life and can get you great results.

What if I don’t want to share personal stories?

You don’t have to share things you don’t want to.

I’m an introvert and value my privacy. I will never share something intimate. You can share stories from your online business instead of your personal life. That’s what readers want anyway.

Personal stories don’t matter if they’re not tied to a lesson that will help readers avoid making the same mistakes you did or learning something new.

If you enjoyed this content and are ready to start writing stories, I’ve created a Notion database of the most popular storytelling frameworks for you.

This will help you turn those everyday stories into valuable content.

Get access to the frameworks and story bank template here:

That’s it.

See you next week!