When thinking about What box are you in?, we first need to look at what roles do you have in your life. Role are aspects of your life where change how you show up. This change does not have to be a bad change. For example, your roles could be spouse, parent, and employee. How you show up as a parent may be different than how you show up as an employee. There will be some sameness, but there will also be some differences.
As you consider each role in your life, are you limited in your role either from internal or external forces? For example, as an employee, you may want some more responsibility, but your boss will not give you more responsibility. That is a limit that you cannot control. Are you letting that limit control you? Define you? In controlling or defining you, are you letting your boss not giving you more responsibility effecting how you perform your current role? If you are, then I would suggest your are being boxed in.
I know that I have been in this situation many times in my career and it usually happens when I have said yes to a role that I should not have said yes to. In those situation, I took on a role for the sake of the company versus something that I wanted to do. At first, I did not realize that I was boxing myself in and it wasn't until I stepped out of the role that I realized that I was boxed in. Being in that role, stifled my creativity and my drive. I let the role define me versus allowing me to define how I executed the role.
I have thought that I am usually a go with the flow kind of guy and I am learning that going with the flow does not mean that I always have to say yes. Saying yes is more related to myself wanting to be liked versus going with the flow. I just need to be cautious and aware of saying yes and getting caught in a box.
You can hear more of my thoughts about What box are you in? in my latest podcast for Live Life with Sean. If you are enjoying this content, please subscribe to it, like it, or leave a comment about it as this will help others find my show. If you would like to have a coaching session with me, please click on the Connect with Sean link and enter your information.