What’s in the Box?
Good Morning,
Bob Buford, the late author of the book Halftime, was asked the following question by a consultant during a critical season of transition. “What’s in the box?” At the core of this question is the realization that at pivotal decision points or significant forks in the road, something paramount to us will cause us to make the choice we make. The consultant referred to this as the mainspring. The thing you have decided will be at the center of your plans and dreams.
It is the first of four critical questions you must ask yourself that we will discuss this month. And there is a reason it is the first question we will deal with. Because the answer to this question will reveal the impelling motivation of your life. It could be money, family, God, affirmation, legacy, and a host of other things. Whatever that is, is what is in your box.
Here is the kicker, there is room for only ONE thing in your box. If you trace critical choices you have made in your life you will find that even with the presence of competing factors one of those factors will trump the others. That will shed light on what is in your box, or what was there at that time. It is important to emphasize that we choose what is in the box. It isn’t there by fate or because someone else has chosen it for us. It is there because we have chosen it for ourselves.
Let me give you an example. Say you decide to put your career in the box. That will allow you to make intentional plans and choices centered around that. It will impact how you use your time, your resources, and the people you allow in your life or exclude from your life. To be sure, is not the only thing that is important to you. You will still have other interests. However, those other interests, and the amount of time, effort, and money you devote to them will all be shaped by how they impact your career and your desire to advance it. The importance of career shapes everything.
My purpose here is not to convince you what should be in your box; that is ultimately up to you. My purpose, as it is with each of the four questions, is for you to wrestle with them and answer them courageously and honestly. Because each of them will set your life on a course and you need have your eyes wide open as to where that course is taking you. What’s more, the answer to the three subsequent questions this month will be significantly influenced by the answer to today’s question.
So… “What’s in the box?”
Questions to ponder this week:
1. What can your calendar, financial statement, and other priorities tell you about what is in your box?
2. How is what you have chosen (perhaps without much intentional thought) to put in your box shaping your life and relationships?
3. Is it time to get serious about sorting this out? *
*Helping people sort out these types of questions is what we do at Road2Legacy. If you would like some help, email me: Email Ron
Live on purpose,
Ron Klopfenstein. CPLC
