Sometimes when I am talking to someone, I will have an image come to my mind that illustrates for me an idea or concept. This happened to me last week while talking to a good friend across the pond.
I’ll cut straight to the chase. The takeaway for me was the importance of being fierce about creating and setting boundaries. When I can be fierce about my boundaries I can be of the most service and have the most impact.
Here is the image that came to my mind:
Ideally it is self-explanatory, but I’ll provide context on how I interpret it. The beauty of images like this is you can interpret it how it best resonates for you and do not have to take my interpretation.
The circle contains all the ways in which I can operate with some level of competence. I can help others in these areas. The box in the middle represents the space inside of my abilities where I excel and thrive. This is where I get the most energy and where I am most often in a flow state.
If I can create strong boundaries around this box, then I can get better and better in that space and build expertise and experience that is unique to me. This uniqueness allows me to contribute to others in ways that no one else can and enables me to help more people because of my focus.
It feels like I should spend well over half (maybe over three quarters) of my time inside the box.
How does this resonate with you? What have you found to be effective in creating and sustaining your boundaries?
