(Principles are basic truths that, when applied, cause success to come to you easier and quicker.)


No, this is not about THE box at the end although that may be the thought that arose from the title. This is about the boxes at the many ends which occur in life.

You move to a new house/city/state/country with boxes from your previous place. Boxes full of your stuff.

People important to you complete their life journey and you end up with their boxes. Full of their stuff.

You retire from your career/sell or close your company/end your professional practice. Boxes, full of more stuff.

How to deal with the box at the end?

A process which can work well is to make a pass through the box and deal with what is clear to you, obvious, easy. Those things you quickly sort into keep, toss, give or sell. Leaving the rest in the (now less full) box.

Then later make another pass through the box following the same process – dealing with only what is easy and obvious.

And perhaps another pass. Noticing that each pass has been pre-programmed by a previous one, so your decisions get easier.

The benefits of an incremental process like this are several.

Speed – trying to make a final decision on every item in only one pass will have you constantly shifting gears to make multiple decisions. Hard and slow.

Focus – one type of item per pass only needs one decision.

Ease – releasing the feeling that you must handle all the contents in one pass is, well, easier.

And of course this S3MC is not only about the physical boxes in life. Boxes come in many forms. An email inbox, for instance.


Coaching Point: What is a box you can try this on soon?


Copyright 2023 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.