Starting all over again doesn’t feel like a good thing. In board games, we land on the wrong spot and are punished by being sent back to the beginning. Progress on a chart is linear, climbing up and to the right. Or so we think.

In 2012, my wife and I were parents of four kids ranging from ages 6–13. That year we made a big production out of getting rid of all of our baby stuff. Our crib had been set up forever, eventually converted into a toddler bed before finally serving as a resting place for piles of misfit toys. But our kids were growing up and it was time to move on. Out with the baby stuff, on with life. Or so we thought.

No sooner had we shipped our baby things out than we discovered that another baby would be shipping in. We would be starting all over again — not just acquiring baby stuff but with parenting itself. At first, it felt like landing on that ominous spot in the board game: being sent back to the beginning. Then, I started to realize that things were different now. I was different …

• Parenting, Round One — I was 22 and a surprise parent. My primary duty right out of the gate was amassing all of the money through my day job (at times night jobs too) and side hustling that I could to provide for a growing family. I was busy and tired all the time. The song Cats in the Cradle felt like a very real cautionary tale.
• Parenting, Round Two — I was 35 and a little more established in my career. I was on more secure financial footing, which meant I wasn’t having to hustle and travel at the same intensity as the first time out. I could be around making lunches in the morning, walking this unexpected new kiddo to the bus stop, and watching Bluey together as we both nodded off on the couch.

I wasn’t being punished by the game of life by being sent back to the beginning. I was getting a do-over. And in a game, getting a do-over is one of the luckiest things imaginable.

Starting over is scary. But even though you’re beginning again, you might be in a very different place from before. What can you do with this opportunity?

Starting over is scary. I was reminded of this as I thought about blowing up this email newsletter. But I’ve been writing it for years — over a decade! When I started my “In Case You Missed It” (ICYMI) email newsletter, I intended to create something that helped marketers keep track of all of the marketing tools that were changing rapidly. To be clear, digital tools are still changing. But, like having another kid 13 years after your first, I’ve changed too.

I still help clients with social media and digital marketing strategies. Social Media Marketing is still one of the classes that I teach at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. Get Scrappy just came out in revised paperback and is still one of my most popular talks. That said, social media doesn’t light my fire like it used to.

Over the past year, this newsletter has focused on stories. Specifically, how you can lead with story. Whether you’re telling stories to build a brand or to communicate as a leader in your organization, story is a tool that offers outsized leverage in connecting with others at a time when it’s harder than ever to do just that. Story has always been a part of my approach to branding and digital marketing. The On Brand podcast is focused on helping you tell your story. Over the past few years, this work has expanded into my teaching culminating in my leading of the Story Lab program at Iowa.

So, starting over with this newsletter is an opportunity to share more in-depth content with you about what does light my fire — stories as tools for connecting, communicating, and leading. That’s why it was essential to tear this email down to the studs even changing the name. What you love about my newsletter — helpful insights and ideas delivered with signature Nick Wit* — isn’t going anywhere. Rather, this new and improved version will do all of that while being more aligned with where my head and heart can be found these days.

(* Yes, I too threw up in my mouth a bit labeling it “Nick Wit” but it was clear and concise. Deep breaths. We’ll get through this together.) 

Each issue of the Story Strategies newsletter will focus on how you can use story principles strategically in your work. To illustrate this, I’ll share my own stories like I did here as well as other stories of leaders and organizations. I’ll still share my recent podcast episodes as well as what I’m reading/watching/listening to (if I didn’t have this feature, I might never have read any S.A. Cosby).

This main section of Story Strategies will always end with a section highlighting …

Story Strategies at Work

[Strategies from this story that you can you apply in your work]

• Stories are all about getting from point A to point B. You can see this in your favorite books, movies, and TV shows. Rocky Balboa is just another local thug at the beginning, where he’s a champ (in his own way).
• In the stories you tell in your work, paint a vivid picture of your point A and point B. What was life like as a 22-year-old parent vs. as a 36-year-old parent? When your work was defined by social media vs. one of the oldest communication tools?
• When we wrap our messages in story, we make them memorable and endow them with greater meaning. I could have just told you I was re-doing my email newsletter. My “starting over again” story embedded this with added meaning. It also made it more memorable (here’s some classic research on this from Bower & Clark at Stanford).

Every time you communicate with someone, it’s an opportunity. What you do with that opportunity comes down to how you craft your message. For best results, say it with story.

Even if it means starting over again.

 A version of this first appeared in Story Strategies—my monthly email newsletter designed to help you connect with your audience through the power of story. Get the next issue delivered to your inbox.