Thinking about Boxes

I was recently thinking about boxes. I wasn't just staring off into space daydreaming about cardboard boxes. That would be a little crazy!

I was thinking about the conceptual boxes we put ourselves and others in. 

It's part of our human design to label and categorize each other because doing so helps us navigate and make sense of the world. He's a hunter. She's a healer. They are bakers; you get it. On a survival level, this makes a lot of sense, but beyond that, it can actually limit our lives. I know numbers, so I used to define myself as a finance person, but that's hardly the big picture.

I'm a father, a husband, an artist, a leadership coach, an adventure seeker, an idea generator, and a friend. When you start to see beyond what you do to who you are, something really liberating happens, and the more it naturally occurs, you begin to see others the same way. That's when you start to see every person as a dynamic spectrum of life and experiences.

When you get to know people for who they really are and not for who they are on paper, it can be a game-changer.

Have you ever made a little shift in some aspect of your life, and as a result, everything else somehow shifted for the better? This is one of those things. And it has the potential to expand what's possible in every aspect of your life. Here are three simple perspectives you can explore with others.

• What's their most treasured book, and why?
• Do they have a favorite place, and what moves them about it?
• Do they do something after work that fills them with joy, and what draws them to it?

It's so simple and yet profound because when you get to know who a person really is, you start to see yourself more for who you are, and from there, you start to see how you can step outside of your own box, color outside the lines and create something that you may have never seen. I hope this gets you to think outside the box! Stay Inspired.