On this week’s blog, we share part 7 in a series of guest posts from published author Michael Fletcher. Enjoy :-)
 

Are you trapped inside a “box”? Do you feel like your world is shrinking around you and you are beginning to panic? Would you like to get out of the “box”? Of course, you would! 

For those of you who have followed me through the Rubik’s Cube journey so far, I have talked a lot about boxes. I have a few ideas I’d like to share with you on how to get out.

I made a discovery about myself the other day. I suppose this is a big old “duh” moment, but I realized how much I keep placing myself in “boxes” on an everyday basis. I guess we all do to varying degrees. 
 

Most of us live in a box. 

We drive to work in a box. 

Then we may sit down at a desk inside a box and may even be in an inside office or cubicle which is a box within a box!
 

Rest assured, many individuals have intentionally chosen to work outside or in unique environments just to avoid the claustrophobia that may occur in limited space areas. But sometimes even that may not get to the root cause that makes us feel contained in a tight space, or “boxed in”.  

I know most of us are well aware of these boxes around us, but it is often still a surprise when it hits us in the face one day.  I discovered almost by accident a way to gain some insight on these boxes I inhabit. 
 

Get out and gain perspective! 
 

If you are too uncomfortable in your living space, your home, get out and go look at other houses. Call a realtor and go look at some new digs. You don’t even have to be in the market to buy, but you can get ideas. Maybe you need to make a better creative space within your home? Or perhaps it’s just a new paint color! Do the same thing with the car you own. Shop around and check out some new wheels. There are many documented stories of people doing test drives in their dream vehicle, even though they cannot buy it just yet! Whatever it may be, make these new concepts a part of your vision board! 

Is your job bringing you down!? You can test drive other vocations too! If you are able to break free for an interview elsewhere, do it! It is often very revealing to go visit another office or another location entirely in a job interview, even within your own company. It might be a job you are only dreaming about but think of all you can learn. I did this recently and it was so enlightening to visit with other people working in a different world. In fact, it did feel a bit “other-worldly” to me! The pace was completely different. There were laid back environments and a comfortable feel to the place. It really got my attention and was quite calming to me. I don’t know that I want to transition to that job necessarily, but I definitely took something away from that experience. And it got me out of my “box” and allowed for a new perspective.

“Perspective” is a really BIG word. You can gain perspective and lose it in a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a month, or a year, and so on. Perspective is definitely a word I would add to my Rubik’s Cube!  Perspective is what allows us to learn, keep our focus, remain patient, and function like the real and soulful person we really are. 
 

It allows us to approach any puzzle from a completely different angle. 
 

When we lose perspective, things generally don’t go well, and it shows up in everything we do. This is why it is so important to have daily exercises and “Daily Success Rituals” which I learned here at Mind Movies!

I know that you may think it is easier said than done. But my personal story is somewhat revealing about how this can work for you.

Back in 1990, I was just a “newbie” in the field of sleep medicine that I still work in today. I was primarily an apprentice getting on-the-job training. How I got there is a pretty fantastic story, but in a nutshell – I was relentless. I had been a full-time musician for many years. I had high hopes as all musicians do, but I could never entirely breakthrough on the world stage as I had hoped. Add in the fact that I was starting my family while continuing as a full-time musician, and I began to realize that I just was not making enough money to take care of us. I felt the heavy weight of that responsibility and knew I needed to make changes. I was trapped in a box with few options, or so I thought.  
 

I knew the answer was in knowledge, so I began my search.
 

I went through a transition that was extremely difficult. There was a period of time where I routinely worked 6 nights a week playing music, and 5 days a week learning how to sell life insurance. I did this with a level of success, eventually getting my license to sell life insurance in Ohio. You see, I knew that I needed a whole new perspective, outside of the world of music. That horrible feeling of living in a box had overwhelmed me at that time because as much as I love my music, music did not really love me back so well it seemed. So I took the opportunity to look outside my music world.  I transitioned through several jobs around this time as I searched for what pleased my own soul. In that search, I found something I loved that existed outside of the world of music. I did not think that was possible at that time.

The opportunity came in the form of sleep medicine, partly because of my relentless curiosity of what existed outside of these boxes I was living in. I always remained relentless, excited, and exploratory. I think those qualities allowed me to climb higher. I flew to Texas for a job interview that was an incredible story in itself. The result of that interview was that I moved my entire family to Texas because of an opportunity to grow in more significant leaps and bounds in the field of sleep medicine. This turned out to be a life-changing event that propelled me to a better place. 
 

A new world was opened to me because of my willingness to step outside the box and look around.
 

I can tell you that moving to Texas was a massive undertaking and was relatively risky and unnerving.  I left for Texas alone, leaving my wife and three kids to pack belongings and rent out our home. I made the trip in a small, old, and beaten VW Rabbit for Texas. The car trip was a whole other story I could tell.   

I had many long talks with the universe during that part of my life.  I always remembered the words of David Viscott, MD, “If you have no anxiety, the risk you face is probably not worthy of you.” 

Yes, there is anxiety! But there is a whole big world out there! Amazingly, I did not fall off of the edge of the world or become homeless in Texas. Instead, the Universe seemed to welcome me to a new level of living. Be sure you are open to the Universe, and you will be astounded by what you can attract. I still have my music today, but I am more appreciative of the expanse of this space I live in than ever before. My world is still getting bigger every day!

Oh and one more thing… in this context, remember not to allow your skull to function as a small box for your brain. Brainwaves are quite powerful and reach out beyond that box. I know we are striving to harness that power to the best of our ability. But we have to remember to allow our brain to breathe too because it has creative needs and those may just be the manifestations you are looking for. And remember, quality sleep has a great deal to do with this. 

My challenge to you today is to find creative ways to get out of the box if you feel trapped inside one. 
 

Gain insight by challenging yourself to use new perspectives to find a fresh vision. 
 

It’s a Rubik’s Cube life, and you will solve some puzzles once you can see all of the components. But you have to get out of whatever box you are in every once in a while. Your perspective is everything.

Now before you go, if you look to music for a little inspiration, please go check out my latest youtube video. This is the story of a young man who knows he needs to get moving on his life and his dreams but just can’t seem to get started. Just like all of us - the first step is to get moving, to get started!
 

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