Kim Schneiderman
Psychotherapist, Author, Columnist, Writing Workshops

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Step Out Of Your Story

bookcoverWriting Exercises to Reframe and Transform Your Life

From New World Library  (publisher of Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, Dan Millman’s The Peaceful Warrior, and the Deepak Chopra’s The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success)

Our lives consist of stories that can be told in infinite ways. Every time we open our mouths, turn on our Ipads, or “put pen to paper,” we make choices about how to tell a tale, about highs and lows, relationships and jobs, heartaches and joys.

But if there are many ways to tell the same story, how do we choose the best version so that the telling leaves us feeling hopeful and empowered? How do we find the redemptive, silver-lining narrative in the situations life throws at us?

In this groundbreaking book, therapist and writer Kim Schneiderman offers a story lens on life that help us see ourselves as ever-evolving characters growing through changes and challenges that show up in our narratives, which are works in progress. Chock full of life-affirming, liberating writing exercises designed for novices and habitual writers alike, this groundbreaking book will help you embrace the subtle, often unrecognized personal victories that build character – facing a fear, changing an attitude, or kicking a bad habit. As you write new scripts for old stories, you’ll come to understand big-picture story lines in ways that allow you to steer your actions and relationships towards redefined, realistic and genuinely “happy endings.”

Sample Exercise: 

In this exercise, you will write a plot summary of the current chapter of your life. The Plot Summary Exercise is this book’s cornerstone exercise. It sets up the remainder of the writing exercises and will become the focal point of your transformational work. You will use it to play with your story’s mood and tone, identify the antagonist, and explore how narrative tension creates opportunities for character development and attitudinal change. 

Please answer the following two-part question in the third-person narrative:

If you were reading the story of your life in a novel, the current chapter would be called:

“__________________________________________________________________________” [insert title],

and would be about [summarize chapter in 8 to 10 sentences]

_________________________________________________________________________________________.


Testimonial

“We are all constantly telling ourselves stories about our lives.  Often we do this without being aware that we are not merely characters to whom things just happen, but the creators of our story as well. Through an ingenious series of exercises, Kim Schniederman shows us how to make this unconscious storytelling process conscious, and to use this new-found awareness to take control of our lives. Read this book, do the exercises. You will discover that you can step out of your story, and create it as you live.”

— Albert J. Bernstein PhD, author of Dinosaur Brains and Emotional Vampires


Reframe Your Narrative About Challenging Relationships

A 10-week Online Course with DailyOM

Tired of people pushing your buttons? For as little as $10 total, you can liberate yourself from self-defeating patterns around people who trigger you. Register here to receive 10 weekly insights, writing exercises, and guided meditations you can access whenever you want.

Lesson 1:  Soul Narrative vs. Self-Defeating Story
Lesson 2:  Exploring the Power of Choice and Voice
Lesson 3:  Your Adversary as Your Personal Trainer
Lesson 4:  Embracing Your Strengths and Superpowers
Lesson 5:  Getting to Know Your Inner Antagonist(s)
Lesson 6:  Dialoguing with the Parts that Get Triggered
Lesson 7:  The Yoga of Character Development
Lesson 8:  Supporting Characters, Tools and Resources
Lesson 9:  Giving Ourselves the Blessing We Seek
Lesson 10: The Golden Happy Ending

A FULL HOUSE AT THE NYC BOOK SIGNING!

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About The Author: Kim Schneiderman

Psychotherapist and freelance journalist Kim Schneiderman utilizes research-based methods to help people who are stuck – in a dead-end job, relationship, of life stage – imagine themselves as the star of their own stories with the power to reclaim their personal narratives. Drawing on the elements of a story that many of us learned in high school (premise, scene, plot, conflict, climax, resolution), readers will assign titles to different chapters of their lives, observe recurring themes, identify supporting characters, and explore how conflict creates opportunities for personal growth that can lead to a meaningful resolution. They will also be asked to examine how the decisions we make, both big and small, affect our storyline – the relationships we choose, how we spend our day, and how we nourish ourselves, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Unlike most self-help writing workbooks, most of the exercises in Step Out of Your Story are framed in the third-person voice, freeing readers to see beyond their usual point of view. Psychological research suggests that people are more likely to view their lives favorably when they see themselves as characters in a story. In a 2005 Columbia University study reported in the Journal of Psychological Science, test subjects who spoke about difficult chapters in their lives in the third person narrative displayed more confidence and optimism than those who recalled bad memories in the first person. By retracing their steps from the perch of the third-person narrative, people were more likely to regard their problems as something outside themselves – challenges they had conquered or adversaries they had defeated - instead of character flaws. Additionally, the perception that they had overcome obstacles left them feeling more confident to face the future.

Order Your Copy Today!

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Praise for Step Out of Your Story

“Kim Schneiderman excels at helping people reframe their old, self-limiting stories. The exercises in this insightful, practical book will free you to discover your best self and to live a more courageous, compassionate life.”

— Lee Kravitz, author of Unfinished Business: One Man’s Extraordinary Year of Trying to Do the Right Things and former editor-in-chief of Parade magazine

“In Step Out of Your Story, Kim Schneiderman shows us in step-by-step, practical and creative exercises, how to change our lives by changing our stories. What an innovative way to channel our natural story-telling abilities into a powerful ally for a richer, more satisfying life.”

— Judy Reeves, author of Wild Women, Wild Voices

“Step Out of Your Story is a truly fresh approach to reflective writing. By placing our own lives in the context of plotlines, characters, and narrative devices, Schneiderman provides a genius way to twist our culture’s fascination with reality TV and sensational movies and channel it toward the story that matters most: the narrative of our own lives. This book’s approach to self-awareness is both entertaining and evocative, and promises to reveal a fascinating story you may not have realized was inside you.”

— Marney K. Makridakis, author of Hop, Skip, Jump and Creating Time

“Kim’s book contains many helpful ideas written with clarity and humor. There is something for every individual seeking the golden thread or “yellow brick road” that leads from suffering to joy and from pain to spiritual health.”

– Nancy Rosanoff, author of Intuition Workout: A Practical Guide to Discovering and Developing Your Inner Knowing

“Our life histories shape us, our attitudes, our life views, our relationships as well as our strengths and weaknesses. Kim Schneiderman’s book is a fantastic demonstration of this point of view.”

— Samuel C. Klagsbrun, MD, executive medial director, Four Winds Hospital

Step Out Of Your Story

STEP OUT OF YOUR STORY

Writing Exercises to Reframe and Transform Your Life

Every life is an unfolding story, and how individuals tell their story matters. Recent Stanford and Columbia University studies show that how we view the story of our life shapes the life itself. Who are the heroes and villains? Where does the plot twist? How are conflicts resolved? Learn more...

Order Your Copy Today!

New World Library Amazon Barnes & Noble

 

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