# 9 You’re Not The Plane - You're the Pilot
You know I love metaphors, and this one is leading us to examine the concept of us being the storyteller, and not the story. We are not the programmed, autopilot-driven identity. We are the conscious creators directing our own course.
We can all relate to those quiet whispers in the back of our minds. The ones that sound like truth, but feel like shackles. I know these ‘stories’, and I am sure you know them too.
“I’m not good with money.”
“I always mess things up.”
“I’m too much.”
“I’ll never be enough.”
“I have a terrible memory.”
Let’s get one thing clear: those aren’t facts. They’re stories. And not the kind that inspire you, they’re the kind that imprison you. Yeah, sure, some stories are empowering, I will acknowledge that. We can use these stories to motivate us to strive, reach goals, or grow in healthy ways. The other stories, our limiting beliefs, well, they are outdated, untrue, and generally come from a place of fear or shame. The great news is, they can be rewritten.
Where did these stories come from?
They were handed down. Inherited. Absorbed. Maybe it was a teacher who told you that you weren’t smart enough (or, in my case, hit me over the head with a book because I was talking). Maybe you had a parent who loved conditionally. Let’s not discount our society that rewards fitting in over standing out.
These narratives burrowed deep, not because they were true, but because they were repeated, over and over until they became your default script. Like a plane on autopilot soaring through the sky without intervention. Let’s think about this for a moment, repetition doesn’t equal truth. And survival is not authenticity.
Why we hold on
Your brain loves these stories, yes even the painful ones, because they feel familiar. Safe. Predictable. But let’s be real: familiar isn’t the same as aligned. And “safe” often means stuck. We have all heard of the saying about needing to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. If we want something to change, we have to change.
These stories have become the subconscious operating system behind your choices, your voice, your business, your relationships. How you show up in the world. And unless you pause and interrogate them, they’ll keep running your life on autopilot.
Let’s reclaim the pen, or the throttle (is that what it is called in a plane?)
What if the fear you feel isn’t proof that something is wrong, but proof that you’re finally disrupting the old narrative? What if healing isn’t about becoming someone new, but about returning to who you were before the stories told you otherwise? Think about it, you were not born with the belief, or the story of “I have a bad memory.”, or “I am not good enough.”.
So … what if freedom begins with a whisper that says, “This story ends with me.”
Rewrite. Reclaim. Rise.
The moment you realise you are the author, the pilot, the entire story changes.
You get to choose new language:
“I am learning.”
“I am becoming.”
“I am worthy now.”
“I am not too much, I’m exactly the right amount.”
“I am training my brain strategies to remember details.”
You get to write a chapter that includes pleasure, joy, rage, sovereignty, nuance, depth, and desire. A chapter where you’re not the villain or the victim - but the hero. The author. The alchemist. The divine, complete human being that you are.
This isn’t about pretending the past didn’t happen. I am not suggesting that you push away emotions that may be attached to certain events that have happened to you. It’s about refusing to let it define you.
So today, I invite you to ask:
What’s a story I’ve outgrown?
Who am I without it?
And who do I get to become now?
Rewrite your life from truth.
From clarity.
From power.
From authenticity.
The pen is in your hand. The old stories may have charted your past course, but you get to choose where you fly next.
I speak about this in my Podcast – EP10 “The Story Stops Here. Rewrite, Reclaim, Rise.” Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or whatever platform you devour your podcasts.