Your Triangle

A simple, powerful tool for storytelling and decision-making

I was working with a client on her Triangle last night. It reminded me that The Triangle is a piece of my teaching that is super helpful for both developing material and picking projects and it’s self contained enough to share here. Also this reminds me to mention, which I don’t always do here, that besides substack, The Infinite Creator is a hub where I coach creatives,, both one-on-one and in groups. It’s a rolling start process but the beginning of the year is an auspicious time to jump in. What is creativity coaching? It’s support with direction, decision making, clarity, motivation, mindset, momentum and so much more. Schedule a mini strategy session here.

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The Triangle!
There are three things about you. Ok, I know there way more than three. You are an evolving, complex, and spectacularly multi-faceted being! Like a diamond. But - there are also three things about you. And understanding your Triangle of Stories and Self will help you understand your story, find your comedy, and choose projects that are essentially you

Why is it a triangle?
Three is a keenly helpful number for creating coherency.
For understanding structure. It’s a dynamic number – hello, throuples - and structural triangles show up in every mode of thought.

In religion: father, son, and Holy Ghost. Also creator, preserver and destroyer. And Buddhism’s three poisons – greed, hatred, ignorance. In psychology - id, ego, superego. In design - primary colors - red, yellow, blue. There’s the philosophical triad – mind, body, spirit. In alchemy the tria prima – sulfur, mercury, salt.Time – well at least linear time - past, present, future. And all of storytelling - beginning, middle, end. Plus – basic and primal – birth, life, death. To name a few. Ha ha. Across every system humans use to understand life, we organize meaning into threes.

Because most creative stuckness doesn’t come from a lack of ideas — it comes from overwhelm, and the fear-based decisions that overwhelm triggers: shame, panic, regret. Understanding your own triangle can help calm overwhelm by helping you see structure. And let’s face it, overwhelm is just one scroll away right now for all of us.

You don’t need to get this “right.” This is a thinking tool, not a test. Meant to help you discover resources. This exercise works for storytelling and for decision-making — especially when you’re choosing between projects.

Here’s the visual for the exercise:

How To Use The Triangle:

1. Find Three Things About You.

On the line in each corner, write one of your key qualities. A part of you that defines you. Something that shapes how you see the world and how the world sees you.

These can be things like gender, sexual preference, generation, relationship status. Geographical - where you grew up, just moved to – maybe fish out of water? It could be your faith or religious beliefs – ex-Catholic, atheist, Wiccan? Your neurodiversity, introversion, political activism, parenthood, recovery, hair color. Maybe something you’re obsessed with? True crime, fashion or food. Maybe you’re a seeker? Or a teacher, or an ex-tennis pro. Maybe you identify strongly with your astrology sign. So many possibilities - these are the things that you consider self-defining.

And listen - this isn’t about branding yourself or picking aspirational adjectives. It’s about being honest with yourself, naming what already has gravity in your life.

2. Define Your Creative Center

I know you might consider your creative life part of what makes you you – and it absolutely does - but for these purposes let’s put those things in the center of the triangle – be expansive – include all the multis of your hyphenate. We’re not removing that part we’re giving it context. By putting your creativity at the center it makes it clearer how it’s being fed – or starved – by the rest of your life.

3. Expand The Corners

Each of your three corners has room for lots of words. A cluster of words. It’s possible being Jewish is also about being a NYer is also about being an outsider – or maybe it’s outsider - and Jewish is part of that. Play with it. Take some time. In many cases two corners are super clear and the third takes a while to come into focus. And please don’t worry if two corners seem to contradict each other. That just makes you interesting.

4. Find Your Stories and Projects

Then. I want you to start thinking about stories connected to each corner. And if you find stories that cover the whole triangle – all three corners - that’s a vein of gold.

A Few Notes

Sometimes the triangle doesn’t tell you about content, it tells you about context. One of the biggest mistakes creatives make is leaping forward into content without thinking about how working in any medium will fit into their own lives. The Triangle can help with that.

If you notice that you have a corner that’s extrovert/people person – and you plan on writing a historical novel – sitting in your room by yourself for - I don’t know – years? – is that going to work – do you need another project to balance it?

The Triangle is a tool. Working with it can help you understand yourself. The same way that working with your numbers, or astrology chart, or enneagram type can help. It’s a tool for discovery – sometimes a memory assist. A mirror.

And if you are resistant because you still want to change and evolve – please do keep changing! - this is an exercise you can do periodically.

If a project looks good on paper but feels heavy in your body, your triangle will usually tell you why.

If this exercise stirred stuff up – got you excited or curious - or raised any question – jump onto my calendar for a clarity call if you’d like. It’s a mini strategy session where we have a conversation about where you are, what your dreams are, what your story is, how you might best move forward. And if working with me would help.

Infinitely Yours,
Beth

oh PS! We have stacked UnCabaret coming up on 1/23 Tickets here!