The Story Vault Framework for Coaches
You’ve been there. Sitting down to create content, knowing you had three perfect stories to share this week, but now your mind is completely blank. The stories that felt so vivid two days ago have vanished. That client breakthrough you witnessed? Gone. That lesson you learned while picking up your daughter from Chick-fil-A? Nowhere to be found.
Here’s the truth most coaches won’t admit: you don’t have an idea problem. You have an idea capturing problem. Every single day presents you with stories, insights, and moments that could become powerful content. The challenge isn’t finding stories to tell—it’s remembering them when you need them most. That’s exactly why we built the Story Vault framework, and in this post, you’ll discover how to install this system in your business so you never lose another great idea.
What Exactly Is a Story Vault?
A Story Vault isn’t just another content planning tool or script library. It’s a systematic way of capturing the stories, insights, and moments that happen throughout your daily life and work. Think of it as your personal reservoir of real experiences that can be transformed into authentic, trust-building content.
The concept is simple: create one designated place where you capture stories in real-time, organize them by type and theme, and revisit them when it’s time to create content. Whether it’s a client call where someone shares a breakthrough, a personal moment that taught you something valuable, or an industry insight that clicked during your morning run, the Story Vault ensures these moments don’t slip away.
The beauty of this system lies in its simplicity. You’re not writing full blog posts or scripting entire videos. You’re capturing the essence of a moment in one to three sentences—just enough detail to trigger your memory later. This raw, unedited approach removes the friction that stops most coaches from documenting their ideas in the first place.
Why the Story Vault Changes Everything for Content Creators
Most coaches understand that storytelling builds trust and authority. People don’t connect with perfect frameworks alone—they connect with the human experiences behind those frameworks. When you share the story of how you discovered a principle or watched a client apply it in real life, your message becomes memorable and relatable.
But here’s where coaches get stuck: they know they need to tell more stories, but they can’t remember them when it’s time to create. The Story Vault solves this by turning story capture into a habit. Once you start actively collecting moments, you’ll notice stories everywhere. It’s like buying a new car and suddenly seeing that model on every street. Your brain becomes attuned to recognizing content-worthy moments because you’ve created a system to capture them.
The framework also addresses a deeper challenge in content creation: consistency. When you have a vault filled with captured stories organized by theme and type, you’re never starting from scratch. You’re pulling from real experiences that already happened, which means your content creation process becomes faster and more authentic.
The Eight-Column Story Vault System
The Story Vault system uses eight simple columns to capture and organize your stories effectively. Here’s how each column works:
Column A: Date Captured – Record when you captured the story. This helps you spot patterns in when you’re most creative and makes it easy to track which stories are fresh versus ones you’ve been sitting on.
Column B: Story or Idea (Raw Note) – Write one to three sentences capturing the essence of the moment. Don’t edit or polish—just get it down. Example: “Story licked my cheek when I asked for ice cream because she thought I said ‘give me a lick’ instead of ‘can I have a lick.'”
Column C: Story Type – Categorize each entry as a client story, personal story, teaching moment, industry insight, or micro moment. This lets you quickly filter when you need a specific type of story for your content.
Column D: Where It Came From – Note the source: client call, coaching session, DM conversation, workout, shower, drive time. This context helps you remember the full story and can reveal patterns about where your best ideas originate.
Column E: Possible Episode Angle – Brainstorm how this story could become content. For the ice cream story, the angle might be: “The importance of precise language in your messaging so your audience understands exactly what you mean.”
Column F: Content Bucket – Assign the story to one of your three to five core content themes. For a coaching podcast, these might be podcast strategy, content creation, client success, mindset, or systems. This ensures you’re building a balanced content library.
Column G: Is It Used? – Mark yes or no so you don’t accidentally repeat stories too soon or forget which ones you’ve already shared.
Column H: Episode Link (Optional) – Once you use the story in content, add the link. This lets you revisit how you framed it before and see if there’s a different angle for repurposing.
Making the Story Vault Actually Work for You
The system only works if you actually use it. Here’s how to make story capture a consistent habit rather than another abandoned tool:
Build it once in the right place. Create your Story Vault as a tab in your existing podcast production spreadsheet or content calendar. Don’t create a separate document you’ll never open. The vault should live right next to your production workflow so it’s impossible to ignore.
Use reminders strategically. Set a recurring reminder in your task management system with a direct link to your Story Vault. The reminder shouldn’t say “Write five stories.” Instead, ask: “Heard any good stories this week?” This gentle prompt removes pressure while keeping the habit alive.
Capture immediately, refine later. When a story-worthy moment happens, open your notes app or Story Vault and write the raw idea in under 30 seconds. You’re not crafting content—you’re preserving memory. Future you will thank present you for capturing it while it’s fresh.
Review during content planning. When it’s time to plan your next month of content, review your Story Vault and assign specific stories to specific pieces of content. This transforms the vault from a collection into an active production tool.
Start seeing stories everywhere. Once you begin this practice, you’ll notice your brain naturally starts flagging moments as “Story Vault worthy.” That mental shift is when the system truly becomes powerful.
Common Mistakes That Kill Story Capture Systems
Even with a great system, coaches make predictable mistakes that prevent story capture from becoming a lasting habit. Here are the traps to avoid:
Creating too many places to capture. If you’re putting stories in your notes app, voice memos, journal, and random notebooks, you’ll never find them when you need them. One place. That’s the rule.
Trying to write polished content in the moment. The Story Vault is for raw capture, not finished content. When you feel pressure to make it perfect, you won’t capture anything at all.
Never revisiting what you’ve captured. Jerry Seinfeld said it best: “Anyone can take a reservation. It’s holding the reservation that matters.” If you capture stories but never look at them again, you’re just taking reservations. The system works when you actually use what you’ve collected.
Overthinking the system. You don’t need a complex database or fancy software. A simple spreadsheet with eight columns is more than enough. Start simple, then adjust based on what you actually need.
Your Next Step: Install the System This Week
You already have the content you need to create consistently for the next six months. It’s living in your memory right now, waiting to be captured. The Story Vault framework gives you the system to preserve those moments before they disappear.
Your homework is simple: create your Story Vault this week. If you want the exact spreadsheet template we use at 1898 Creative, email darren@1898creative.com and I’ll send it over immediately. Or build your own version in Google Sheets, Notion, or Asana using the eight-column structure outlined above.
Then commit to capturing just one story this week. That’s it. Not five, not ten—just one. Build the habit of noticing story-worthy moments and preserving them in your vault. Once you’ve captured that first story, you’ll start seeing opportunities everywhere.
Remember: your voice matters. The world needs the stories only you can tell. The Story Vault ensures those stories don’t slip away before you can share them. Build your vault, capture your moments, and never run out of content ideas again.
Watch the full episode where Darren and Dustin break down the Story Vault framework step-by-step, including the exact spreadsheet setup and real examples of how they use it in their own content production at 1898 Creative.
Full Transcript
Darren: Hey, are you like me in the sense that you have a lot of content ideas, but when you sit down to create them, all of the stories go right out your brain and you can’t think of them? Well, if that’s the case, then today’s episode is for you, because we are going to break down the Story Vault framework that allows you to capture those ideas and use them in your content and never run out of ideas. So if that’s you, let’s get into it.
Hey, welcome back to another Coaching with Content podcast episode. It’s good to have you here. I’m Darren. And as always, we got my good buddy, Mr. Dustin P. Dustin, how are you this morning?
Dustin: I’m great, man. I’m pumped for an amazing 2026 on this podcast. And we say always me, but it actually, we got some really cool guests lined up this year that I’m pumped for the people to see and listen to.
Darren: Yes we do. Yeah, some clients coming in, we have some folks that we’ve partnered with in some really cool ways and we’ll continue to partner with, so very excited to bring that to you here. We’re back in the studio, feeling good, we’re getting the flow down, hopefully making it look and sound good as best we can. But Dustin, I have a story I want to tell you.
Dustin: Oh, I love Storytime with Darren.
Darren: Right, Storytime with Darren. Okay, so this is a handful of years ago. I’m going to say my oldest daughter who happens to be named Story as well.
Dustin: I was just going to point that out. Don’t get confused if I say Story and Story.
Darren: Her name is Story and I’m telling you a story about Story. Got it? Tracking? Okay. So a few years ago she had to be two-ish, give or take some. We would frequent, like we do with a two-year-old, Chick-fil-A. Shout out to Chick-fil-A.
Dustin: 12 and 15 and we still frequent. In fact, my son works there.
Darren: Yeah, well, I guess that’s true. Your son works at Chick-fil-A, so this is going to fit even better for you. But anyway, we’re at Chick-fil-A, we finish up, and as always, we gotta get the ice cream. You know what I’m saying? You gotta get the ice cream. So we get the ice cream, she has her cone, I’m carrying her to the car, she’s pumped, I’m pumped because I know here in just a second, I’m going to ask for some of that ice cream because it’s so delicious. It’s so good.
Anyway, so we get to the car and right before I put her in, I’m like, here’s my moment. So I say, hey, Story, can I have a lick? To which she doesn’t even bat an eye. She turns to me and licks my cheek as fast as possible. And I was like stunned, you know? Like what just happened?
And then I start cracking up laughing because obviously she thought what I said, can I have a lick? She thought me and I’m thinking ice cream. So it was this hilarious moment as a dad of like, oh, your words and what you say are very, very important and very specific to what they are going to do. Right? So I cracked up laughing about this. This story I told to everybody that I could in the next few weeks. But what I did was, as soon as I got in the car, I pulled out my phone, I pulled out my Notes app, and I wrote this story down because I’m like, I do not want to forget this ever. I want to continue to come back to it time and time again because this is hilarious. So that’s exactly what I did. I captured this story in a moment in my Notes app.
And over the years, I have forgotten about it. I have not remembered that story, but every so often I come across that note in my notes app and I remember it and I pull it out and I go, oh my gosh, and whoever I’m with, Mom, remember that time that I said Story could have a lick and she licked my cheek? It was hilarious. Like, you know, blah, blah.
And that is kind of what we’re going to be talking about today, which is this idea of creating a Story Vault. And a Story Vault is basically a process or a way of capturing stories. Because often as coaches or consultants or folks that are creating content in some way or form, it’s not that we have an idea problem, it’s that we have an idea capturing problem. The stories are leaked out of our memory. We don’t remember them. And each and every day, all of us are confronted or have an opportunity to learn something through a story that happens to us in some way or form.
And what we want to do is help us come up with a way of capturing those stories in this Story Vault and allow it to be something that is working for us in the future, especially when it comes to content, podcast episodes, even short form content, anything that you’re doing in that way. This will help you begin to capture and make sure that you never run out of ideas.
So Dustin, is there a story that comes to your mind? Is there a time that you had a story that you wrote down or that you captured in some way so that you didn’t forget it and then were able to use it later in some type of content, some way or form?
Dustin: Yeah, a couple things come to mind, nothing specific, but a couple ways that we do this. So my mother-in-law, retired kindergarten teacher, she wrote down funny things that kids said throughout the years. So she retired a couple of years ago. And so she’s been working on putting a book together of all these funny things that kindergartners said to her over the years, which is fantastic. Amazing.
So then we, my wife and I will text sayings, videos, photos, things like that to her, to her mom, to my mother-in-law. And she will put together these basically monthly scrapbooks and then mail them to us. And so my kids have all of these monthly journals for, I mean, most of their lives put together by their grandma, which is super cool.
And then we as a family have a shared family photo album on Apple. And then our screensaver on our Apple TV is that family photo album. So we’re always seeing fresh new pictures of ourselves or of the family up there. So it’s a way to capture like we have, we’ve created the habit. All of this we’re talking about here today, right, is creating this habit of doing it.
And one thing I’ll say to you, probably going to get there eventually. But, you know, I teach processes and systems to creatives. And so for me, I just want to say the Story Vault system here that we’re going to talk about today, whether you use it or not, you need to have that one place, not many places. You need to have that one place that you’re capturing stuff. And then you also need to actually go back and revisit it. So it’s one thing to capture the stuff. The other thing to actually use the stuff.
It’s like Jerry Seinfeld said in that episode for the car reservation. He went to go pick up the car rental reservation from the airport. And they’re like, sorry, we don’t have a car for you. And he’s like, but I made a reservation. And they’re like, well, sorry, we don’t have it. He’s like, but you know how to take a reservation. You don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really what the reservation is. Anybody can just take them. Right. And so the same thing here, like it’s one thing to take all of these stories and capture all the stories, but then do what you do with it. I’m sure we’re going to get to as well.
Darren: Absolutely we are. And you kind of already touched on it. You know, where we want to start today is really what is a Story Vault. And a Story Vault is a place to take reservations, I guess, right? It’s a place to capture stories, to capture ideas, to capture examples and lessons and client moments. And it’s not just like a script library, if you will, that you’re going to write down everything and go to. It’s really a way of capturing these big ideas in the moment.
Because we’ve all been on client calls, I’m sure Dustin, you’ve been on a call with one of your clients and they share an idea, they share an unlock, they share something that happened to them, and it’s like, I gotta remember that. I gotta make sure that that is something that I tell other folks, right? And that’s the purpose and the reason behind a Story Vault and really why it’s so important.
And to your point, I love your story about your mother-in-law because dude, if she didn’t take the time to capture those stories in a Story Vault, all these years later, there’s no way that she could go back and remember all of the things that those kids said to make this a, to create a book and to create these moments and create this fun thing that goes out into the world. If she didn’t take the time to do that, it wouldn’t work, right?
Dustin: Yeah, it wouldn’t exist.
Darren: Yeah. And so that is the importance of this. And I know when I was thinking of this episode, Dustin, as I was trying to put this together, I was like, man, this is so elementary. Write down stories, Darren, really, that’s what you’re going to talk about today. But how often do we not do it? Right? I’m even guilty of it, that I don’t even write them down sometimes. And I know that we’ve recently created the Story Vault in our production flow here on a spreadsheet that we can start to use even more.
And I started to fill it out here recently just to make it a habit of my own because that’s how important capturing these moments in these stories are. And man, your mother-in-law story is just an awesome, awesome example of that reality. So yeah, it’s not just about writing content. It’s about collecting moments. I wrote that quote down here. It’s not about writing content. It’s about collecting moments and that’s the funny thing.
It’s kind of like when you go to buy a car or you start to look at a car that you want and you’re like, man, not everybody has that car. So I’m going to buy that car and then in the next few days and weeks you see it everywhere. It is everywhere, right? It’s like I didn’t know that so many people had that exact car. I can’t believe it, right? And it’s the same idea with the Story Vault is once you begin the process, you’ll start to see stories everywhere in everyday places and spaces and you’ll be like, oh man, I gotta write that down, I gotta write that down. And now you begin to create this way of capturing moments that will really help you in your content creation as you go.
And so that is what a Story Vault is and really, that’s kind of why a Story Vault is important, right? Because it’s going to allow us to capture those moments and use it to help folks move forward in our processes and our frameworks and the things that we’re teaching, right? So yeah, any thoughts on that, Dustin? Any other things before we continue on?
Dustin: Yeah, I mean, I’ll just say too. I mean, this is all about I teach a method to all of my clients as well. And over on my podcast as well, a method called the Future You Method. And the idea is that we don’t have, our brains can only hold but so much information. And so we have to have some type of a system in place like the Story Vault where we can get things out of our head and down into a place.
And I love that you call it the vault because it’s hard to lose a vault. You know, like if you think about it, you know, I mean like a safe or a giant vault. You’re like, where did I leave that? Yeah, you know, it’s around here somewhere, you know, but we’re talking about a digital spreadsheet, but having that mentality of I don’t lose a vault, a vault is where everything goes and everything comes from. It’s the singular place. That’s what the Future You Method is all about is having a place to put all that and have in the context of all of those things, which I’m sure we’re going to talk about these columns that we have laid out in there, and that’s going to give you the context for these stories and how to use them.
Darren: Yeah, and the way that we’ve put this together and the way that we like to work it out with our clients as we begin to put their podcasting process together is the first thing we’re obviously going to put together is a spreadsheet that helps them with all of their production. When are we recording? When are we going to release, who’s on the podcast, what are kind of some ideas and where we’re headed with this. Like we’re starting to put that spreadsheet together as a roadmap for our podcast for the year.
And Dustin, you’ve really helped us from the operation standpoint, make sure that that thing gets put together because the minute that you are not following that roadmap is the minute that you sit down to record a podcast, you feel confused, you don’t know what you’re doing and it just becomes kind of a mess, right? So this podcast spreadsheet is the way that we keep everything together from a production standpoint, right?
Well, what we have done is we’ve actually in, if you’ve ever worked on a Google spreadsheet or any spreadsheet, you know that there’s tabs at the bottom, right? That other spreadsheets within that. So we add that Story Vault right there next to the podcast production schedule so that we have one place not only for the production and what we’re doing, but also for the stories. As we’re planning, as we’re prepping, as we’re putting things together, this becomes a place that we go to. So the vault is not just for the stories, but also for the podcast as a whole. And that’s where it becomes very, very strong.
And something that, Dustin, you’ve helped us develop here at 1898 is as our process kind of manager, if you will, the guy that is, you are our vault for that, you know. And so that’s what’s so beautiful about having that one place, and it’s so true, Dustin, that Future You piece has been an unlock for me in our time working together where I realized that I gotta make sure that future me is dumb, right? And so I gotta make sure that I’m taking care of future me now as I’m putting these things in, and that’s what this Story Vault is all about.
So let’s take a minute. Again, you can create a worksheet and put this together in any way, shape or form that works for you. But I want to break down the way that we’ve put this worksheet together. And if you’re listening to this and you’re like, man, I would love this worksheet or love this podcast production kind of flow. If you just email me at darren, D-A-R-R-E-N at 1898creative.com, just email me, I will send this over to you and make sure that you have this in your hand so that you can use it to not only keep your podcast production or your content calendar in place, but also your Story Vault and make sure that you begin this process today.
So with that said, let’s break down the columns, the way to set this up so you could go do this yourself if you would like. Again, if you want me to send it over to you completely done for you, let me know, email me, we’ll take it from there.
[AD BREAK]
Hey, quick pause here. If you are thinking about starting a podcast or have already started one and it’s not driving business results like you would like it to, we would love to help. 1898 Creative, we install a proven podcast system, a strategy that helps you leverage your message to attract premium clients without adding more to your plate. So if you’re ready to turn your podcast into an authority engine, book a call over at 1898creative.com and let’s build something awesome together. All right, now let’s get back to the conversation.
Darren: All right, Dustin, let’s walk through this spreadsheet a little bit, and we’re going to pull this up on the screen so you can see it and kind of walk through with us. Obviously, if you’re listening, you’re going to have to go to YouTube. You’re going to have to hit subscribe, and then you’re going to have to watch this so you can see it. So, shameless plug.
Dustin: Yeah, come on now, come on now. If you’re listening, go over to YouTube, make that thing happen.
Darren: Anyway. All right, let’s break this worksheet down. I’m just going to run through the columns and then we’ll kind of maybe break each of them down to make sure that we dissect them a little bit more. But Column A is going to be just the date captured. Column B is going to be the story or the idea, kind of that raw note, if you will. Column C is the story type. Column D is going to be where it came from. Column E is the possible episode angle, like how you’re going to put that together in content. Column F is the content bucket that it would fall under. And then Column G is, is it used? Yes or no. And then Column H is kind of an optional one. You could throw the episode link when it’s done so that you could revisit that and see how you put it together so that you might be able to use it again in the future if necessary.
So let’s go back to Column A. I mean, it’s going to be very self-explanatory, but let’s break it down a little bit, you know, Dustin? Column A, obviously date captured. When did this happen? Why did it happen? This really kind of helps you see patterns over time and dates and like, man, I really start to get really good ideas in the springtime because the flowers are coming out and the sun is out. I don’t know. You’ll find your own flow in it. But that’s why we put the date captured, obviously, to be able to revisit.
And then Column B is the story or the idea. This is that raw note moment that I was telling you. One to three sentences, it’s kind of messy. Don’t really edit it. Just kind of get your idea down, right? To reference the story at the beginning, my daughter at Chick-fil-A licking my cheek when I asked her for some ice cream or something. You know, like super simple, super raw. Again, very self-explanatory, but let’s walk through this anyway.
Let’s look at Column C now, the story type. This is going to be where you start to figure out where these kind of work and where they go. This could be where you put in a client story. This could be a personal story. This could be a teaching moment. This could be an industry insight, maybe a micro moment, something like that. As you’re looking at your spreadsheet in kind of a quick way, you’re able to go, okay, that’s a story about some type of client moment that I had, right? So I’m going to pull that because I really want to tell a client story here. So you can see that kind of as a 30,000 foot view and then be able to start digging in from there. So obviously, the story of my daughter Story would be like a personal story moment that we could pull from. So that’s really Column C, right?
Column D, where it came from. Did it come from a client call? Did it come from a coaching session? Did it come from a DM conversation that you were having with somebody on Instagram? Maybe you were walking or working out. That’s always when the ideas, I don’t know about you, Dustin, but a lot of ideas come in the shower for some reason. Don’t know why, but it happens. Are you a shower idea guy?
Dustin: Shower, driving, anytime where I’m having to focus on something that’s outside of my work is usually when your brain, psychologically they say it allows your brain to kind of bring up some of those subconscious thoughts and ideas, you know, because you’re not focused on, you’re focused on it’s a mundane thing that you’re doing, showering, driving, things like that.
Darren: Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah. We send a lot of drive time thoughts to each other, Dustin, in the notes app, you know, we go, hey dude, drive time thought, just thinking about this, where, you know, that’s where all the ideas flow and that’s an easy way to.
Dustin: Yeah, that’s true.
Darren: Yeah, let us know if you want to hear the drive time thoughts podcast, you know, maybe it’ll be a segment here. I don’t know, I don’t know. Anyway, all right, let’s go to Column E, the possible episode angle, right? So this is where you’re starting to kind of refine the idea a little bit. You know, let’s dig into, man, that story where, you know, the story where Story licked my cheek instead of, you know, giving me the ice cream, maybe we could pull that into an episode angle of making sure that the words that you use in your podcast are the right ones so that people aren’t confused, right?
So now you can begin to draw lines and connecting dots between story and possible teaching moments, right? So make sure that that possible episode angle is written in there. And just, again, just jot down some ideas, some notes, just some bullet points, if you will, on that.
And then Column F, the content buckets. We believe around here, every client that we work with from a podcast production side of things, we walk through and make sure that they have at least five buckets or five idea buckets that they could pull from so that you’re not always just going here, there, and everywhere, right? So for us, for an example, it could be something like podcast strategy, right? We talk a lot about podcast strategy around here. So if there’s something that pops up in that, let’s put it in that bucket, right? Maybe a production would be one. If you’re doing video production, if you will, in some way, shape, or form, we’re going to teach you something about video production. We will drop that in that bucket. What are those buckets for you?
Everybody should have at least five buckets of content types. You could have three, you could have four. Five is not necessarily, but that’s usually what we shoot for anywhere from three to five. Dustin, do you have any type of content bucket strategy that you use with the podcast that you produce?
Dustin: Yeah, a hundred percent. So mine is like, are we talking about a framework? Are we talking about creativity just in general? Is it something that drives creative and creativity? Are we talking about processes? Are we talking about a system? Are we talking about leadership? Those are kind of five to six buckets that as I’m planning mine out and my spreadsheet, I’m making sure what I really love about that, Darren, is it gives on back on that, you know, other tab, the release date and details. It really even here on your Story Vault as well to be able to kind of see is there a content bucket that I have not enough of or maybe it’s too heavy in one area. Right. So that you can make sure like, hey, I thought you were supposed to be talking about lots of different things, but it seems like you’re really only talking about this on this podcast. Then if you start to see that trend on your Story Vault, all your antenna can go up for the ones that you don’t have as much.
Darren: There it is. Yeah. And too, Dustin, if you play that out, you can begin to watch your data over time on your episodes to go, man, whenever I talk about leadership, it tends to pop off. And people are really digging those conversations. So it’s going to help you refine, right? And then you might go, well, let’s take this leadership bucket and break that into a couple of different buckets and pull those in and maybe drop a couple off that don’t make sense. Now it’s helping you move your podcast, your content forward with real data in real time. So that’s the importance of kind of having that bucket system in place. If you don’t have it, I believe we’ve done a podcast episode on it. If we haven’t, we will do one soon. But that’s the importance of having those content buckets put in place, and that’s something we walk all of our clients through.
Column G, very self-explanatory. Is it used, yes or no? That way you’re not just always going back to the same stories, right? Oh, yeah, I did use that one. Because again, we’re going to forget, right? We’re going to go grab that story again and go, oh, I just did that two episodes ago and I didn’t realize that. Oops. So make sure that you put just a simple yes or no on that.
And then Column H, very self-explanatory again, is like, once the episode’s out, maybe drop that in. The reason that I put that there, and again, it’s an optional column, but what I would like to do is if I go back to a story, I want to go, okay, it has been used and here’s the episode, how did I use it? What was the angle that I took on it? What was the way that I put it together? Then I can go, okay, could I repurpose it in another way or form. Dustin, you had your hand up, yes.
Dustin: Yeah, I think another good reason to have that episode link column in there just hit me as you were talking was how long ago was it that you mentioned this story? Because I think what we often forget when we’re talking about ongoing content, whether it be a Reel or a Short or educational or a podcast or whatever, anything like this, this ongoing content world that we live in. I think what we often forget is that people haven’t seen everything that you’ve done. Someone’s just getting, someone just took the on-ramp onto your thing and very rarely are people so obsessed that they’re going to go back and listen to everything that you’ve ever done before, especially if you’re many, many episodes in.
So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bringing it back around. Hey, I’ve told this story before. Maybe some are new to this, but I want to just share it again because today we’re talking about XYZ. Boom, it’s done and over. It’s like, don’t have to lie or fabricate things like comedians do where it’s like the other day. I love it. I love comedians. One of my favorite comedians, Dusty Slay, you know, because comedians always go, oh, you know, the other day this happened the other day, this happened. I saw Dusty Slay earlier this year and he was talking and he said, you know, same thing the other day, the other day. And he goes, you know what? The other day was a big day for me.
He’s putting you in on like everybody knows this didn’t just happen the other day. Like the story of Story didn’t just happen the other day. Right? I could say the other day, but eventually Story is going to be like in her twenties and she’s going to be going dad, this didn’t happen the other day. Dad, I’m 20. I did not lick your cheek when I was 20. That’s weird, dude. That’s weird.
Darren: Yeah, no, that’s a good observation there. That’s awesome. That’s awesome.
So as we land the plane here, okay, you can build this Story Vault out in any way that you want to, right? We’ve obviously put it together in a spreadsheet, shameless plug. If you want that, we can send it over to you. Just email me, darren at 1898creative.com. We’ll get it hooked up for you. But you could simply build this out in your notes app. You could build this out if you’re a Notion person. You could build it out there. We’re big Asana folks here at 1898 Creative. Dustin, you are basically certified guru genius in Asana. You could easily build this out in Asana if you wanted.
The big thing is just finding a flow that works with these columns in some way, shape, or form to capture these stories and these ideas in real time. So yeah, I don’t know if there’s any thoughts on that, Dustin, as far as I guess maybe with being in Asana kind of mind, and this is right off the cuff here, I’m putting you on the spot, how would you build something like this out into Asana to make sure that you’re seeing it and even using it to remind you of times to revisit it maybe? Maybe there’s a flow there that comes to mind for you that would be a good fit.
Dustin: Yeah, I mean, if I’m talking about putting it in any kind of, I mean, I would basically use it as a reminder. Right. And I use Asana for reminders. I use the reminder app for reminders. But what I would do is I would create as little friction as possible between the reminder and you getting to the thing to execute the reminder. So, for example, like I have a reminder that’s like, hey, it’s time to order the water filters for our refrigerator water system or whatever. Well, on that reminder, I have a link to them on Amazon, so I don’t have to go look for it later.
So for us, I would probably say I probably do a reminder, whether a reminder on your app or a reminder in Asana or project management software and say, you know, just ask the question. Heard any good stories this week? You know, with a question mark and kind of prompt you to think not a, hey, you need to write five stories, but just, hey, have you heard any good stories this week? Have it go off sometime in the middle of the week or end of the week or something like that with a link to the Story Vault there for you so that it’s there so that you don’t have to go hunting for the Story Vault to jot it down.
Darren: Yeah, man. That’s so good. And something that’s easily overlooked and that speaks to that Future You thing that you were talking about earlier is that we’re not going to remember that we created that Story Vault sheet, you know, we’re going to do it and then we’re going to forget that it’s there. But if that’s constant reminder in your task management software in some way, shape or form, reminds you to just look at it with a link there, it’s super simple, it’s easy, you click on it. I mean, we’ve done that in a thousand different tasks in our Asana process, man, that you’ve really helped us flush out that allows us to be able to go, man, this is simple and easy, the barrier of entry is very low. It’s, oh, task, click, link, there, story, written, done, check it off, get that dopamine hit, get out. So it’s that simple and that easy and I love that you brought that to life. So good.
You gotta get a Dustin in your world, folks. If you don’t have a Dustin in your world, you need to call Dustin. So that’s the reality of it. But yeah, let’s recap real quick. We’ll talk through this, maybe give you some homework assignments and then bounce out of here.
So just to recap, you already have the content that you need to create ongoing content and never run out of ideas. You just have to do the hard work or now the easy work that we’ve put it together for you to create the system to make this work for you. So the Story Vault system, by putting this worksheet together, putting it into your task management software and making sure that you’re reminded of it, this is a way that you will never run out of content ideas. You gotta capture the moment. You gotta capture the moment that happens. You share those raw stories or store those raw stories in a place that you can remember them.
And then that’s going to be a way that you use your life, right? And this is the thing, Dustin, that I love about this process is that we talk a lot around here about building trust and building authority and building those things. And people connect with stories. People connect with you on a human level and when you take the time to capture your life in story form and begin to share it with the world in this way, amazing things happen. People connect with you, people sense who you are and what you’re doing and it just allows for you to be real, to be authentic and ultimately to build trust with your listeners because of that reality.
So tell better stories and to tell better stories you gotta capture them, and to capture them, you gotta use the Story Vault. Simple as that.
So a little homework assignment for you. If you’re listening to this, I need you to create the Story Vault process for yourself this week. This week, in the next 24 hours even, let’s say. You gotta create this. If you need it, email me, darren at 1898creative.com. I will send it over to you and that will be your homework done, complete. You get an A plus for the day. Or just spend a few minutes writing this down, creating this process, making sure that it’s put in place and start capturing your stories. I’m telling you, it will be a game changer for you, for your content, and ultimately for the audience that you’re building. And that’s how you’re going to build trust. That’s how you’re going to make things happen. So do it. Make it happen today.
Dustin, any final thoughts before we close out?
Dustin: No, I love it. I would definitely email Darren D-A-R-R-E-N at 1898creative.com and get this already built it for you to just grab it and use it.
Darren: I love it. I love it. Well, hey, as we wrap up today, I want you to remember something. And this is something that’s important to me is that your voice matters. The reason that we get this content, we put it together is because I honestly believe that there is something inside of you that the world needs, and you need to do the hard work of bringing that to life. So your voice matters. Do the hard work of bringing that to life and go create your art. Create it. So go out and create your art because we need your voice. And we’ll see you here next time on the Coaching with Content podcast.