The Story We Inherited – How to Break Free From the Scripts That No Longer Fit
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 10
- 5 min read
Written by Meghna Dassani, Entrepreneur
Meghna Dassani knows what it means to check all the boxes - and still feel like something’s missing. A dentist turned transformation coach, she now teaches high-achieving women how to rewrite the rules of success. Her mission? To help ambitious women step into their purpose and power with a little bit of sparkle.
We are all born into a story. Some of us inherit it through family traditions, some through culture, and others through unspoken expectations about who we should be. For women, especially, the script often reads like this, be good, work hard, achieve, keep everyone happy, and never rock the boat too much.
For a while, many of us play our roles with grace. We build careers, nurture families, tend to responsibilities, and collect accolades. From the outside, it looks like success. On the inside, it often feels like we are reading lines from a play we no longer believe in.
This is the tension of the story we inherited. It gave us structure, stability, and sometimes even safety. But it can also become a cage, one that silences the truest version of who we are.
The weight of an inherited script
When I talk to women leaders, I often hear a common refrain, “I did everything I was supposed to do, so why doesn’t it feel the way I thought it would?”
That’s the quiet ache of an inherited story. It whispers that fulfillment will come if you just tick the next box, climb the next rung, and achieve the next milestone. But when you get there, the finish line moves. Success turns into a moving target, and exhaustion becomes the backdrop of your days.
This happens because we confuse external validation with internal truth. We’ve been taught to measure our worth by someone else’s definition of success.
But here’s the truth, a script written for you by someone else will never feel like home.
My own script
For me, the inherited story was clear, education, hard work, stability, and professional success. Dentistry became that path. It was safe. It was respected. It was exactly what the story dictated.
For years, I wore that script like a second skin. It gave me pride. It gave me identity. But over time, it also began to feel constricting. I realized I wasn’t meant to only fix teeth, I was meant to help people breathe, sleep, and live fully. Later, I saw I wasn’t meant to only treat patients, I was meant to teach, mentor, and lead.
Peeling back the layers of that script was uncomfortable. People had opinions. Some didn’t understand. But in releasing that inherited story, I began writing my own.
That’s the invitation of every woman’s second act, not to abandon everything you’ve built, but to choose consciously what stays and what goes.
How scripts get written
Scripts are written in subtle ways. Sometimes they’re passed down through family. “In our family, women are always the caretakers.” Other times, they’re woven into culture: “Success means climbing the corporate ladder.” Often, they’re shaped by society, “Good women put themselves last.”
Over time, these scripts burrow into our subconscious. They shape our choices, dictate our priorities, and whisper warnings any time we dare to step out of line.
And yet, every major transformation in history has come from someone bold enough to defy the inherited story.
The cost of staying in the wrong story
The cost of clinging to a story that no longer fits is high. It shows up as burnout, resentment, self-doubt, or even physical illness. You feel restless in your own skin. You question yourself constantly. You wonder why you can’t just be grateful and content like everyone else.
But that unrest isn’t ingratitude. It’s a signal. It’s your soul nudging you to pay attention, to stop performing, and to begin living.
Because the truth is, when you shrink yourself to fit into a story that was never written for you, the world loses access to your brilliance.
Breaking free
Breaking free doesn’t happen in a single moment. It happens in layers. It begins with awareness, noticing the lines you’re reciting that no longer feel true.
Here are some gentle entry points to begin:
Name the script: Ask yourself: What story did I inherit? Write down the unspoken rules you’ve been following. Maybe it’s “I must always be productive” or “My worth is tied to achievement.” Naming the script is the first step to loosening its hold.
Challenge the origin: Where did this belief come from? Family? Culture? Old versions of you? Once you see its origin, you realize you don’t have to carry it forward.
Experiment with rewriting: What if success was defined differently? What if saying no didn’t make you selfish but wise? What if rest was not laziness but strategy? Play with new definitions and see how they feel.
Surround yourself with expanders: It’s easier to believe in a new story when you witness others living it. Seek out communities of women who have dared to shed their scripts and step into reinvention. Their courage will remind you of your own.
Choose one small act of defiance: Big reinventions start small. Say no to something that drains you. Say yes to something that scares you. Each act is a signal to your nervous system that you are safe to live your own story.
The courage to disappoint
One of the hardest parts of breaking free from inherited scripts is the inevitability of disappointing others. There will always be people who prefer the older version of you, the one who fits neatly into their expectations.
But your job in this life is not to be the main character in someone else’s story. It is to be the author of your own.
The truth is, the people who matter will adjust. And the ones who don’t? They were never meant to be gatekeepers of your destiny anyway.
A story still being written
When you choose to break free from the script that no longer fits, something remarkable happens. You begin to feel lighter, more aligned, more alive. Life stops being a performance and starts being a practice.
And here’s the secret, your story doesn’t need to be perfect. It doesn’t need to make sense to anyone but you. What matters is that it feels true.
Because at the end of the day, the story you live is the legacy you leave.
Reflection for you
If you find yourself restless in your own life, consider this your invitation. Pause and ask yourself:
Which parts of my story feel alive, and which feel heavy?
Whose approval am I still chasing, and at what cost?
What new chapter is waiting to be written if I find the courage to begin?
The story we inherit shapes us. But the story we choose liberates us.
So perhaps the question is not, What story was I handed? But rather, what story will I write from here?
Read more from Meghna Dassani
Meghna Dassani, Entrepreneur
Meghna Dassani is an award-winning dentist, author, and transformation coach. Through Lead With Soul and The Expansion Collective, she empowers high-achieving women align with purpose, reclaim their power, and create legacies without hustle. Blending mindset, soulful leadership, and reinvention, Meghna helps women redefine success on their own terms.
