#410 Frames. Limited by our frame

What if the limits you feel are just the edges of a frame? We dig into how simple boundaries—on a wall, on a screen, or in your mind—quietly define what you see as possible. Through a short parable of a boy, a mentor, and a lifted frame, we explore why the biggest breakthroughs often come from noticing the outline around your choices, not cramming more effort inside it.

We talk practically about leadership and perspective: how to pause mid-decision and ask what frame am I using, why reframing turns fear into experiments, and how great leaders teach their teams to see the edges and then step beyond them. From creative work to strategy, we look at when constraints sharpen your focus and when they become cages. You’ll hear simple prompts that surface hidden limits—Which risks am I avoiding? Which questions am I not asking?—and a permission slip to run small, reversible tests that expand your horizon without burning the ship.

This conversation blends mindset, creative process, and management practice with clear, usable tools. Whether you’re shipping a product, leading a team, or rethinking your own path, you’ll learn how to use frames intentionally: commit to a view to make progress, then zoom out to check the bigger picture. The goal isn’t a life without frames; it’s the freedom to choose and change them. If you’re ready to see more than what fits inside the current border, press play, share it with someone who needs the nudge, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Theme: Frames
• 0:35 Shift To Art Inside The Frame
• 0:45 The Boy, The Mentor, The Horizon
• 0:55 Leaders Who See The Frame
• 1:12 Challenging Limits And Questions
• 1:32 Permission To Step Beyond
• 2:00 Freedom And Imagination
• 2:13 Listener Invitations And Wrap

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Growth Insigators Hotline. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. This is message 410. This week is all about frames. F-R-A-M-E-S. An everyday normal object that we can assign deeper meaning to. Something that can grab our attention and represent something beyond. What are some lessons we can glean from frames? This week we have spent a lot of time talking and taking lessons from the frame itself. Let's switch it slightly. Art. Photography. Whatever is inside the frame. Let's look at it from the art or photograph, the picture perspective. A boy looked through a picture frame and believed the world was small. His mentor lifted the frame away, and the boy gasped at the vast horizon. Sometimes the most powerful move is to recognize the frame itself. Leaders who question what frame am I using gain perspective and often break through clarity. Great leaders teach people to see the frame itself and then to step beyond it. Did you hear that? Are you limited by the frames around you? What dreams are you not chasing? What risks are you not taking? What questions are you not asking because you feel framed in? You're not giving yourself permission to think beyond. If you're looking for permission, this is it. I'm the growth instigator. I grant you full permission to lift the frame you've lived in and explore the world outside, the world beyond. The last thing I want for you or me to do is to be limited by a frame and boundaries set by others. So today, whenever you see the next frame in the wild, you see a frame, may it scream, FREADOM! as you give yourself permission to put your imagination as to what may be beyond. That, my friend, is how a common, everyday object can instigate growth. I'd like to hear some more of your observations. What growth lessons can you apply to frames? For those of you calling the Growth Instigators Hotline, I'd love to hear your thoughts after the beep. For those of you listening in on a podcast, visit growth instigators.com and send me your thoughts. Tune in tomorrow for the weekend edition and wrap up of our frames series. Let's never see frames the same.