Mark Zuckerberg gives me a storytelling realisation

Had a storytelling realisation ping into my mind at 11:30PM last night.

One of those “aha” moments where you feel all the dots connect, your mind light up, and that sweet flood of dopamine fill every cell of your brain.

Immediately had to untuck myself from the covers, stumble over to my phone, and jot that bad boi down in my Idea Capture system — far too good to let it disappear into void (like most ideas do if you don’t capture them immediately).

Figured I’d share it with you today.

And I have a lot to do — so imma try and keep this one quick.

First, a bit of background:

Aaron Sorkin (the guy behind The Social Network) has a simple formula for storytelling:

Intention + Obstacle = Banger Stories.

In other words…

You want to do something (intention).

But there’s something standing in the way (obstacle).

Example from The Social Network:

Zuckerberg wants to build Facebook.

But he’s snowed under by legal disputes.

See?

Now, that’s a nice, simple framework for storytelling.

And I can see why it’s become so popular.

But, in my not-so-humble opinion, it’s “missing” a key component.

Because human beings don’t just “do” stuff.

In other words…

We don’t get our “intentions” out of nowhere.

In fact, when I think about all of the big decisions I’ve made in my life, there’s always been ONE moment which sticks out as the thing which finally made go “all in”.

For example…

Few months back I wrote about being sat in my 9-5, bored out of my fucking mind, and dreading the journey back home where I knew I’d have to spend an hour crammed into a London tube at rush hour like a tinned sardine.

And it was at this point I stuck on an episode of Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom podcast with Jimmy Carr.

I won’t go into the details.

But there was a line in that podcast which, to this day, is still the most impactful one-liner

“It takes a long time to find your life’s purpose. But once you do? It’s worth betting your life on it”.

Fucking chills.

And that simple phrase was the thing which, after MONTHS of build up in my head, finally helped me get the balls to pull the plug, say “bye bye” to the 9-5 life forever, and embark on this weird and wonderful journey of entrepreneurship.

But remember the point of me telling you all this:

This isn’t about me quitting my 9-5.

This is about the storytelling realisation I had at 11:30PM last night.

Because here’s the “aha” moment I had (thanks to thinking about Zuckerberg, lol):

Intention + obstacle isn’t enough.

You also need a catalyst.

The thing which pushed you over the edge.

The straw that broke the camel’s back.

The ONE thing which, after months of build up, finally made you stand up, say “fuck this” and JOLTED you into action.

Because that’s what’s going to make your readers act too.

In The Social Network, it’s Mark getting dumped by a girl.

In my story, it’s listening to Jimmy’s banging one-liner.

And in your story? It’s… [fill in the blank here].

Because that’s what I want you to ask yourself the next time you’re writing a story:

What was the ONE thing which finally flipped the switch for you?

And then I want you to lean into that feeling in the most graphic fucking detail possible, bring every semblance of emotion bubbling to the surface, and use that to spark your reader’s desire to change as quickly as humanly possible.

Because, remember: you’re not just “telling stories”.

You’re telling stories to light a fire up people’s arses.

To stir them into motion.

To make them act.

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. Building my email masterclass course right now.

Because I know a bunch of you want to write banging emails so you can connect more deeply with your audience, earn their trust, and maybe even make a sale or two.

But I need to know what you’re struggling with most when it comes to email (so I can make the product as useful as possible).

So…

Please take 30 seconds to fill out this quick survey (the more you tell me about your email struggles, the more I can help!)