We love our boxes.
You know, those tidy little labels we slap on ourselves: I’m a consultant. I’m a project manager. I’m a historical fiction author.
These boxes don’t just keep you focused.
They can also imprison you.
The box that initially feels like a cozy home for your identity can eventually become a cage for your curiosity.
We ignore the parts of us that are evolving, the parts that whisper, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to try this? Wouldn’t it be exciting to go there?”
You tell yourself you’re a photographer, and photographers don’t write novels, so you ignore that urge to tell a story in words instead of images.
You convince yourself you’re a business consultant, and consultants don’t design clothing, so you brush off that spark of creativity as a distraction.
Last year, I found myself in a similar place.
At the time, my primary label was author. I had written two global bestsellers on innovation and creativity—Think Like a Rocket Scientist and Awaken Your Genius—and I was traveling the globe giving keynotes about them. My box was perfectly constructed, airtight.
But something else was also calling me. Something I hadn’t predicted, planned, or even thought I’d enjoy: AI.
At first, I was deeply skeptical of AI. It was everywhere—supposedly disrupting industries and sparking debates about the future of humanity. I worried about AI’s impact on creativity, on originality, on what it means to be human.
Setting aside my initial judgments, I decided to approach AI like a skeptically curious scientist. I spent over a year experimenting with ChatGPT, playing around with its capabilities and pushing its limits. Turns out, ChatGPT isn’t Skynet. It’s way cooler—and far less interested in world domination (I checked).
Over time, I uncovered more and more ways that AI, when used properly, could amplify, rather than stifle, my work—unlocking levels of creativity and productivity I didn’t know existed.
So I decided to do something completely new—launch an online course called The AI Advantage to share what I learned with others. The course took off in ways I never anticipated—over 400 people enrolled, calling it “the best online course I’ve ever taken” and “the best investment I’ve made in my business.”
In creating the course, I let myself be pulled toward something new—not because it fit into my brand—but because it sparked something inside me. It was exciting, and instead of snuffing out that flame, I gave it air. And with each step, the spark grew brighter, fueling something far more powerful than I had imagined.
Let me be clear: I have no intention of becoming “the AI guy.” My brand is—and always will be—driven by curiosity and a refusal to stay locked in any one box. My AI course is just one of many stops on this ever-evolving journey.
That’s the thing about curiosity: It doesn’t follow a logical, linear path. It jumps. It leaps. It zigs when you expect it to zag. That can be scary, especially if you’ve built your identity around a certain “box.”
But that’s where the real magic happens. Curiosity is a force. It pulls you into uncharted territory, igniting possibilities you hadn’t even considered.
Over to you: What’s something you’ve been curious about but haven’t allowed yourself to explore?
What’s that project or idea that’s been tugging at you, but doesn’t seem to “fit” the story you’ve been telling yourself?
Let yourself follow that spark.
It doesn’t have to make sense on paper.
It just has to make you feel alive.
Because ultimately, that’s what creativity—and life—is really about.
The most exciting things happen when you stop limiting yourself to the boxes you’ve outgrown.
P.S. The AI Advantage is reopening for enrollment on October 8th!
Think of it as your very own curiosity jailbreak. In the course, you’ll learn how to master ChatGPT, reclaim 10 hours from your work week, and change your to-do list from a battleground to a playground.
Ready to unbox yourself and push the boundaries of what’s possible?
👉 Get on the waitlist at this link to be the first in line when doors open.
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