Break the Frame

Break the Frame

If 2019 was the year of #elevatedparadox, then let 2020 be the year of ‘breaking the frame’ #breaktheframe. A quick web search generated this spot-on definition: “dare to be different. try something new. untried before.” The concept, mindset, hashtag, philosophy is so right up my alley, it is truly uncanny. To consistently break the frame in 2020 is to challenge all assumptions, especially the beliefs, people, activities, preferences we hold most near and dear. Start each day with a commitment to break the frame of your own and others‘ perspectives and see what re-frame or new frame emerges. 

Why double-down so heavily on challenging our own assumptions? It’s about awareness and accountability. Truth is we don’t have the answers or know the answers. Whatever we think we believe, know, or do can always be tossed out. And, with a fresh start in mind, we can constantly analyze, tweak, and refine (line borrowed from ‘If I Built A Car’ by Chris Van Dusen) our version of real-time for the sake of change and self-enhancement. Ultimately, “none but ourselves can free our minds” (Bob Marley) and only we are responsible for our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It is absolutely up to us, and nobody else, to reclaim power and responsibility for ourselves in this lifetime.

Break the Frame is the perfect metaphrase to spark innovation and massive change at scale. As a Twitter and in-person friend Austin Brown (@Recovery_ABrown) recently tweeted: “I’m going to refrain from any platitudes of hope this year. Our world is in deep trouble. Without radical sociopolitical changes in rapid order, w/ infrastructure mobilizations on par w/ WWII, children born today will have a dark and dangerous future devoid of any prosperity.” And my tweeted reply: “Yes. But doesn’t that sentiment contain the seed of such prosperity?” Let us remember to #breaktheframe as often as possible in 2020 to lay the groundwork for the most incredible decade humanity has every experienced. It starts with the individual and expands from there. Go for it! Dare to be different. Try something new. Dive into the discomfort zone and live fully.