Are you stuck in a box? Most of us live in self-made boxes of limitation. The walls of our boxes are made up of long-held limiting beliefs that make up our identities. “I’m a mother and thus I need to have a certain kind of job to support my family.” “If I leave this job, I will never find a better one.” Or “I have to have a lot of money saved up before I can take that long trip I’ve always wanted to take.” We believe that we can only have what’s inside of our box and that what lies outside of it is reserved for other people. While our hearts may yearn for more, we often settle for the mundane life inside of our box. But never fear! Escaping our boxes is possible.
I have been stuck in a variety of different shaped boxes throughout my life. In early 2019, I felt trapped by the humdrum of my daily existence and wanted to do something big, something that would awaken my heart and my soul. And I knew what that was but didn’t let myself actually consider doing it. It felt too risky and too crazy! How would I survive if I wasn’t working around the clock? Does this sound familiar?
Every day the call of my heart grew louder until one day I could no longer ignore it. There was an urgency to this voice. It said, “If you don’t go now, you are going to have trouble going in the near future.” So, I stretched my mind outside of its box and asked myself, “How could I accomplish this dream?” The dream of going to Asia for two months to travel and pursuing a yoga teacher training. I began to seriously consider what it would take to make this fantasy a reality. I started researching the ins and outs of the trip, gathered some ideas of the costs, and brainstormed on how I could make it happen. As I gained more clarity, my dream transformed from feeling impossible to something I might actually be able to achieve.
Then, after I got clarity on the vision for my trip, I started to work through and clear the negative beliefs that made up the walls of my box. First, I had to overcome the belief that I needed to find someone to accompany me on this journey. Before this I had never traveled alone to unknown lands. Could I really do this by myself? I shifted my mindset and became more comfortable with the idea of traveling solo. Yet since I’m a social person, I decided to mitigate this a bit by joining some small tour groups for the Cambodia and Laos portions of my trip.
Secondly, I had to clear away the wall of “I can’t pay for this trip and for my bills if I take 8 weeks off of work.” Again, I stretched my mind into the place of “I’m going to take 8 weeks off no matter what and I will find a way to finance my trip and pay my bills without spending all of my savings.” After I made that mental shift, opportunities came into my life that supported this decision. A friend of a friend needed a place to live, and I rented her my basement. This not only gave me extra income to use for the trip, but also someone to look after my home and garden while I was away. I then figured out how to continue earning some money during my trip by working a few hours a day remotely during the yoga teacher training part of the trip. I also realized that if I pre-purchased my lodging and tours, I could spread out my expenses over many months making it feel less financially draining.
With these new plans in place, I felt ready to pull the trigger on the trip. I became 100% committed to making this trip a reality. Once I decided that no matter what I was going on this trip, then success was on its way. Committing to taking daily action on making this dream a reality is what made it happen. I had to notify others of my plans and risk them being upset or pushing back on my dream (which did happen a few times). I had to take leaps of faith and book airline tickets, and lodging before I had a clear sense of how I was going to fund the trip. Leaps of faith are often a part of escaping these mind created boxes.
And I’m happy to report that I did successfully go on my Asian adventure for 8 weeks the summer of 2019, creating some life-long friendships and beautiful memories. And to boot, I got certified as a yoga instructor. It turned out to be absolutely perfect in so many ways. And listening to my inner voice allowed me to fulfill this dream before the world shut down in 2020.
To get out of my box, I used three important tools:
1. I got CLARITY on what I really wanted. I stretched my mind outside of my box and created a clear vision of what I deeply desired and got clarity on all of the details of this vision.
2. I CLEARED the negative beliefs that were holding me back from getting outside of my box. As I worked through and cleared my negative beliefs around not being able to do the trip alone and not having enough money to finance this trip, opportunities showed up that supported me in making this trip a reality.
3. I COMMITTED to making it happen and developed commitment routines around this. Every day I worked on figuring out what steps I needed to take and solving obstacles that arose.
I believe that these 3 C’s – Clarity, Clearing, and Commitment are key to collapsing the walls of your box and achieving your dreams. This is why I’m offering a mini workshop entitled the 3 C’s to Success which can help you escape your boxes. During this 3-evening workshop, you will learn how to get CLARITY on your goals and dreams for 2024, CLEAR the limiting beliefs stopping you from moving forward on these goals, and create COMMITMENT routines to make them a reality. It starts January 2nd. The early bird pricing is only $97 if you sign up by December 10th. Learn more here.
What’s outside of your box that your heart is calling you to do? A new job? Traveling the world? Writing a book? Starting a new business? 2024 can be the year you get out of your box and make your dream come true. Don’t wait any longer. Get help with the 3 C’s to Success Workshop.
