In our recent mastermind meeting we spent a lot of time discussing barriers and boundaries and how they impact our Four Freedoms:
- Purpose
- Time
- Money
- Relationships
It was a powerful lesson. I believe you’ll find even a quick overview beneficial.
First, some definitions…
Barrier: An obstacle or circumstance that prevents movement…access…communication…or progress. (Google)
Boundary: A line that marks the limits of an area, a dividing line. A limit or a subject or sphere of activity. (Google)
For our purposes, barriers are things that get in the way of achieving your goals. They can be external (some you can change, some “you can’t”) as well as internal.
By the way, internal barriers often create the external barriers…
Oh…and if you need an idea of what internal barriers are two of the biggest are:
- Your attitude
- Your self-image
So, barriers basically get in the way… while boundaries give you the way…
A boundary…like a guardrail…keeps you on track.
Boundaries are like “rules” that you put in place…often to protect yourself from yourself.
An example could be adhering to a bedtime… turning off email and social media at a certain time… not eating a sleeve of girlscout thin mints 😉
So, when we have a goal that we want to achieve the first step is to identify the barriers…
What barriers are currently preventing you from expanding your freedom of time… money… relationships… and purpose?
Of course, this can be applied to other areas of your life (I was attending a business coaching event) like HEALTH…
What barriers are currently preventing you from achieving your health and fitness goals?
The second step is to get real and honest with yourself…specifically to determine if your internal barriers are creating some of those external barriers…
Next, we move on to setting up boundaries.
By the way, we don’t harp on the true external barriers that we can’t change right now.
DO NOT GO INTO EXCUSE MODE!
So, now we set up boundaries – “guardrails” to keep us on track to achieving our goal.
Here are some great questions to ask yourself in relation to each boundary you set up:
- What is at risk if I don’t protect this boundary? What’s worth protecting?
- What’s possible if I do protect this boundary? What does success look like?
- What obstacles or mindsets are preventing progress in this area?
- What teamwork, technology, systems, or habits will transform this area of focus?
Then determine your first action…who’s involved… and set a deadline to make it happen!
Doing that for each boundary you determine will help you achieve your goals.
