Get out of Margin Debt Focus Booster Kickoff Call
Workshop
Limits and Overload
We have a finite capacity, what happens when that is continually overloaded or exceeded?
What happens if you fill a glass with water and continue to pour?
What happens if you water a plant and over water that plant?
Margin
Part of the reason it can be difficult to define what margins IS, is because it’s so unfamiliar.
If margin is viewed as a luxury, then it becomes optional. And worse, many people equate guilt and shame with luxury items.
You must see Margin as the true definition of normal — not some luxurious, unnecessary, extravagant thing.
When you are living at capacity, there is no room for anything else, but when there is space left over — when there is margin — that space enables you to breath.
- Margin enables you to do your best creative work.
- Margin enables intentional living.
- Margin helps reduce / manage stress and anxiety.
Margin is the boundaries of a sustainable, healthy life.
In his book, Margin, Dr. Swenson defines Margin as “the space between our load and our limits.”
It is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between breathing freely and suffocating.
1. Margin is counter cultural
By this I mean when you look around, most folks are living beyond their means in terms of their finances, their schedule, their health, and so on. Additionally, many work environments expect their employees to live, eat, sleep, and breath “work.”
In our offices, neighborhoods, and social media feeds — everywhere we look — the culture is one of “maximizing” and “hustling” and “extravagance.”
2. Margin requires trade-offs
If you want to live with Margin in your life, you’ll have to create some boundaries.
Financially, for example, you will have to live within your means.
With your schedule, you have to say “no” to things. You have to be selective about your commitments and opportunities.
By definition, margin means you cannot do everything.
And the final reason that margin is so rare is…
3. Margin is a moving target
As the seasons of life change, so to do your priorities and circumstances. You have to be aware of maintaining margin in your life.
Also, as humans, our natural tendency is toward more, more, more! Which is why we have to choose margin and be intentional about keeping it in our life.
Don’t let it be rare in your life.
What Margin Isn’t
- A breathless pace of life.
- Living in perpetual debt.
- Constant state of exhaustion.
- Emotionally maxed out.
- Creatively tapped out.
Margin is the opposite of these things.
Margin is that healthy gap between what you’re capable of and what is required of you. In short, Margin is breathing room.
Areas of Margin
- Time
- Financial
- Physical
- Emotional
- Creative
Margin Cost
One of the ways that I find knowing the areas of margin useful is when it comes to setting goals or making significant decisions. This becomes a very practical application in day-to-day life.
How much is this going to cost me in margin?
- In physical margin
- In my time
- In financial margin
- In emotional margin
- In creative and mental margin
This is a question I often ask myself when deciding on a goal or making an important decision. There is a cost to everything.
Margin is one way I weigh the importance of a decision. It helps quantify the tradeoff being made and if the pace of life I find myself in is sustainable.
Nice work, !
Congrats on doing today’s assignment.