A Simple Guide To Get Out Of Many Life Traps

Many people have a ten-year experience which is ten times the repetition of a one-year experience.
(Alan Jones, Australian homeopath)

I think the reason for this can vary quite a bit but it essentially has to do with getting stuck somewhere and not knowing how to get out of it, be it intentionally or not.

I remember some years ago when I'll make my yearly review and have this impression that I've wasted a year in terms of making actual progress.

At that time, I blamed myself for being a sleeper, as the fabric of my mind was underdeveloped, especially when it came to having global and self-awareness.

Now, I know better. It was simply getting stuck without being actually aware of it, like being in a dark room without knowing that there's a switch somewhere to light the room.

While there's no one-size-fits-all solution for escaping life traps, there's a common framework to getting out of most of them.

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Identify Your Traps

Awareness is key. Identification starts with reflecting. Socrates teaches us that the unexamined life isn't worth living. I think it's important to just sit by ourselves and think about our lives objectively. This way, we get to identify the spots that are acting like chains in holding us back from progressing.

For me, a spot that I keep revisiting is about the areas of my life that I feel stagnant or unfulfilling. Going deeper, I often discover mini spots such as a dead-end job, a toxic relationship, negative self-talk, or fear of change.

A fear of change is usually a recurring theme whenever life feels stagnant or unfulfilling. Oftentimes, this change entails losing something first before gaining something else later. And let's be honest, as humans, we cling to the familiar like a koala to a eucalyptus tree, even if it's slowly poisoning us.

The other part about identification is to label the traps, i.e give them names (e.g., "The Comfort Zone Cage," "The Comparison Abyss"). This helps personalize and demystify them. So that they can not only be worked on but also recognized from a mile away.

Shift Your Perspective

There's this concept about frame control, which is framing circumstances in a way that is advantageous to us or from which we're better able operate from. In this case, we didn't ignore a life trap, but accept its existence and impact.

Within that context, we can also reframe the trap and view it as a challenge or an opportunity for growth. This way, we take on a more active role and shift the dynamics between the life trap and our ability to solve it in our favour.

Essentially, we have to remember that we are not powerless and have the ability to change our circumstances. Even small steps can lead to big transformations, provided we are disciplined and consistent with them.

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Take Action

We might identify a bucketfull of life's traps and shift our mindset on each of them to better tackle it. But if we don't take action, then our reality will more or less stay the same. Making actual progress means taking action after having a clear understanding of what we're solving for.

Don't let your newfound awareness evaporate into another cycle of introspection. Action, not just intention, is the key that unlocks the escape door.

In Closing

At the end of the year or decade, whether we've made actual progress or not might not be entirely dependent on us. But knowing that we have the power to influence our circumstances is empowering.

While external factors may play a role, through the choices we make and the actions we take, we hold the power to shape our individual journeys.

Recognizing this empowerment demands that we actively engage in the process of creating the lives we desire, even when faced with challenges.


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