It hurts me so deeply when I see people that have been put in a box.
I’m talking an emotional box.
Like “you’ll never be able to _____”. Or “how could you ever become ___”.
So dangerous.
You’re telling someone who they can and cannot become. It’s like telling a child “well you picked soccer in grade 4, so you’re never allowed to try basketball, or dance, or swimming”.
“You’re a soccer player forever now”. And that’s exactly what adults do to one another. They label them into a “profession” or “job” or “career”.
Since our brains love patterns, these labels help us make sense of the world.
“Joe is a dentist. What do you mean he is also a life coach?”
You hear that enough times about yourself and you begin to feel the reality of the box..and you let the limitations of others become your new reality.
I spoke with someone recently who’s been in a very unhealthy relationship for almost two decades, and has been emotionally boxed the entire time.
I spoke to a client this morning who felt like her network was also putting her into a box.
What someone thinks of you and your choices is 100% about them and how they see the world.
Yet, you treat their words as if they are your principal from elementary school.
There’s two things you can do immediately to get out of this box:
- Audit your environment: who are you hanging out with the most and what are they feeding your ears?
- Audit yourself: where are you manufacturing a reality that May no longer serve you?
Life’s too short to live inside an imaginary box that feels real.
