Are you in or out of the box?

Are you in or out of the box?

How many times have you heard it?

Think about it.

How many times have you been in a meeting.

And there is always somebody who says it.

Always.

Goes like this.

"Lets think out of the box on this one."

What is the darn box?

I've looked all around, can't find the box people are talking about.

How many board meetings, staff meetings, and chamber meetings have you been to where at least
one bozo says to the group: "let's think out of the box."

Makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

What the heck is the box? Why is it so important to get out of the box?

I suspect most people do not even know when and if they are in or out of the box.

My question: if everybody is out of the box, who is in the box? Don't we want at least one person to stay in the box?

Besides, I don't want a world where everybody is out of the box. Chaos would reign. I don't want a driver thinking out of the
box. Please, oh please, stay in your lane, drive on your side of the road and obey all traffic laws.

I want my doctor thinking in the box-covering the basics and being thorough. He can think out of the box a bit to be alert
to new ideas and treatment methods.

The world always consists of worker bees and the Queen bee. Everybody can't be a queen bee. Plus, we can't have all the
worker bees thinking out of the box. If worker bees all thought for themselves we would have chaos and one pissed off
Queen bee.


On the rare occasion I eat at McDonaldís I want a burger, not some weird, creative out of the box concoction.

So, how does this relate to having an easier life? I don't know.

Just kidding.

As I think about it, an easier life requires in the box and out of the box thinking and acting. In the box activities cover the fundamentals like following up with prospects, good eye contact and
calling people back. These in the box activities have to be habits and done daily.

Out of the box activities are your creative side. For example, sending a toilet seat to clients if that is your business. Not sure where that example came from, but it sounds weird.

How about this.

To make your life easier, start in the box. Learn and practice all the basics you learn in this newsletter and elsewhere. I believe you can't step out of the box until
you know the box inside and out. There is a reason for the box. There is a reason most people are in the box.

Only then can you step out of the box.

Tigers Woods has to have his swing fundamentals locked in (although he has been messing with this the last couple years). He can't forgo the fundamentals to swing like Adam Sandler
in that golfer movie (what was the name of it?).

Fundamentals applied consistently over time is the secret to success. This is the box. Master this and you are ahead of 90% of the salesmen and marketers out there. Once
mastered you are ready to step out of the box.

Here is a great recipe for disaster: be inconsistent in your actions and think out of the box.

Bottom line point: Keep most of what you are doing in the box. Know when to step out of the box.

Next action step: If you hear somebody at your next meeting talk about thinking out of the box, scream.

Your Life Is Easy Coach,

Jeffrey A. Betman, Ph.D.

Jeffrey A. Betman, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author, and life coach helping people toward the easy life. For a FREE newsletter ($197 value) on making your life easier and FREE report titled 5 Steps To An Easy Life That You Probably Know, But Don't Do Yet, go to www.LifeIsEasyCoaching.com/sq


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