FRAMEWORK
Avoidance Framework
A lens that can make distance, delay, distraction, or disengagement feel safer than facing discomfort or uncertainty.
THE PREMISE
If I don't fully engage with this, I may not have to experience what comes with it.
Avoidance can create relief in the short term. Stepping away, postponing, distracting ourselves, or simply not looking can reduce discomfort quickly.
The difficulty is that temporary relief can sometimes keep us from receiving information we need.
WHAT IT CAN LOOK LIKE
You may put off a conversation, decision, task, appointment, application, financial reality, or next step.
Avoidance can also be less obvious. It can look like staying busy, researching indefinitely, waiting until you feel completely ready, distracting yourself, keeping something ambiguous, or thinking extensively about something without actually engaging with it.
WHERE FRICTION CAN DEVELOP
Avoiding discomfort can also mean avoiding information.
Without engaging, we don't get to discover what would actually happen, what we could tolerate, what might change, or what the experience could teach us.
AN OPPORTUNITY TO NOTICE
Notice when not doing something creates immediate relief.
Then ask:
Is stepping away serving me — or is it keeping me from information I need?
REFLECTION
What might I gain if I engaged with something I've been avoiding?
EXPLORE ASSESSMENTS
YOUR FRAMEWORKS MAY CHANGE BY CONTEXT
You may operate through one framework in your relationships and a very different one with work, finances, family, health, or yourself. The Framework Assessments are an opportunity to see what may be especially active in a specific area of your life right now.
EXPLORE THE ASSESSMENTS