I have found that truly successful people surround themselves with support that makes them excel. Over years of working with clients I have found that people struggle when they put their businesses and their lives in a self-imposed limiting box and keep doing same things over and over again.

So what I do it is help people dismantle that box – attitudes, ideas, beliefs, choices and strategies that keep them limited – and I teach them how to connect to full range of their talents, abilities and resources so that they can bring that immensity and excitement back into their daily planning and choices.

I define a limiting box as any idea of yourself or world, any attitude, any language you use, any belief or any experience that diminishes you in anyway or robs you of your personal power and prevents you from moving forward in world.

Living in these boxes keeps us within what we already know – we repeat same habitual actions hoping for a better result and end up disillusioned and feeling stuck. In order to live best life possible for yourself you have to master skill of moving into unknown. The unknown is really anything outside of box that we have created from past experiences, beliefs and ideas. It is where fresh opportunity, excitement and more satisfaction reside.

Over and over again in working with new clients we uncover ways in which they are creating difficulty for themselves by not even seeing opportunities that are right in front of them – just slightly outside of their box. Often, they feel frustrated in their efforts and even give up on doing what they love most. In doing this they turn away from what could bring their greatest reward.

Here are some symptoms of living “in box”: Frustration Anger Lack of energy or motivation Feeling stuck Resentment Lack of creativity Disorganization Cynicism Not doing what you love Boredom A sense of failure Despair

There are many boxes that people create for themselves. Here are a few of them:

You've probably experienced it yourself! It goes something like:

Friend: "I've got it! We should go to Sparky's for dinner!" You: "Hmm... how about we go to Sparky's for dinner?" Friend: "That's what I just said!" You: "No you didn't!"

Well, there's a reason for those common conversations. It's because best ideas are ones we personally created and we often don't hear other ideas unless it comes from our own mouth.

We closely identify with and remember ideas and strategies that we come up with on our own. It's just inherent way our brain works.

That's why it's so difficult to understand something that you just "copy" down or something that someone else has told you about in a meeting or lecture.

Persuading People with Ideas: Making Ideas Their Own

In persuasion, it's vital to make your idea sound as if it came from other party. That's only way they'll understand and accept your stance.

To show this, let's go back to you and your friend:

Friend: "I've got it! We should go to Sparky's for dinner!" You: "Hmm... how about we go to Sparky's for dinner?" Friend: "That's a great idea, I like it!" You: "Thanks! Let's go and eat!"