17 May Margins
As I worked on this week’s blog post I couldn’t help but switch topics after reading an email that resonated with me so well. The subject line, “The Parent’s List: The thing about margin,” written by Jon Acuff, a writer that I subscribe to because he’s witty, but also inspiring when it comes to my personal and work life. Although I recently became a parent (about 5 months ago), you can bet I’m doing my homework and trying to soak up all of the nuggets of parental wisdom possible.
However, don’t let the subject line deter you. You don’t even have to be a parent for this topic to apply to you. Why is that? Because the idea of creating margin for yourself (in more ways than one) is a life lesson that is sometimes, “Just what the doctor ordered,” during certain seasons of life.
By Acuff’s definition of margin, you have already made a dent in creating time margin. You’ve signed up for boot camp and figured out how to fit it into your daily life by working out regularly before, during, or after the work day. Kudos for knocking out the time margin.
More than likely, exercising regularly is also adding to your emotional margin. Two birds, one stone with boot camp. Woot woot! But the article tells us that emotional margin is created by more than just an activity. In order to create a significant amount of emotional margin, we also need to complete a self-assessment on a regular basis. This might take a couple of minutes, thirty minutes, an hour or more, etc. all depending upon your style. You know yourself best! If, “Fine,” is your go-to feeling descriptor, I challenge you to ask yourself, “How’s your H.E.A.R.T.” next time you check in with yourself. What’s it stand for? Are you: H – happy, E – excited, A – angry, R – raw, T – tender, S – sad/scared?
Alright, enough from me. Check out Acuff’s article attached for the full scoop on creating personal margin. Also below, you’ll find meal ideas for the week. Enjoy!
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