Bonnie challenged me, in our final session of 2015, to pick a word or words to focus on for 2016. Immediately I knew my word was “margin”. It *better* be, I’m writing a book based on the whole idea!
Many people are familiar with the idea of margin in the financial world, as the difference between the price of a good to the customer, and the cost of the raw materials of the good. However, I extend that definition to be the space between the effort I am currently expending and how much effort I am capable of expending. Said another way, I define margin as the difference between how much work I *can* do, and how much work I’m currently doing.
Dictionary.com defines margin several ways, but the one that resonates with my intent is “2. an amount allowed or available beyond what is actually necessary.”
So why is “margin” my word for 2016? Because I SUCK at margin. I run at full-throttle, all the time. I have an over developed sense of duty and responsibility. Unless I am mindful about it, I simply can’t not work. Even as I write this, I needed Maria to encourage me to sit down and write instead of work on our mortgage refinance paperwork. (Brief aside, Quicken Loans is AMAZING).
Margin, in my world, looks like me doing more of what I enjoy, like writing. Margin contains less guilt about what I *should* be doing, and more freedom to do what I want to do. Margin allows me to live in the now, rather than always looking well into the future. Going back to the Dictionary.com definition, margin for me, is stopping at what is necessary, and at least being mindful of how I spend myself above that.
Does margin mean I do less work? Not necessarily, and certainly not for my employer. I will still be faithful with my time to my employer. No, I may still do the same amount of work at times, but not all the time. However, at my core, I’m a workaholic, because I’m an approval-aholic, so the battle is always to do less, not whether to do enough.
The purpose of margin is to allow me to have some mental, emotional, and physical space such that I can rest. We, as humans, are built to rest. Except me, or so I tell myself. Ever tell yourself that lie? I’ll rest when I’m dead! Right. Except that buying into that fallacy means you’ll likely die sooner!
I also don’t consider margin to be simply a physical effort construct – instead, I believe you can, and should, live with margin physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. I don’t pretend to know what it looks like to live with margin in all of those areas, but I can assure you that I’ll share it with you as I find it.
Margin is my word for 2016, because, more than anything, my family needs it. Not because my family needs more of my time – instead, my family needs more of me present when I do give them my time. One of the hardest lessons for me to accept, is that I have more to give my family, when I do LESS. And likely the same is true for you!
Where can you do less, so that you can make space for yourself?