Margin: Part 2
(This is Part 2 of a series on Margin and Leadership. You may want to read Part 1 first.)
Listen to the five-minute Margin: Part Two audio program from Coach’s Corner.
Each of us has different capabilities for how much we can work before our “heart monitors” would indicate we are getting outside our optimum zone. I suspect this depends on how you were brought up, how you are wired, how important your mission is to you, and how your current family structure operates.
For instance, does your family understand the purpose and importance of your work, and do they support your efforts to produce at the highest levels? Do they work to help you maximize your output? Maybe they feel ignored and hurt and they unknowingly—or knowingly—work to undermine your output.
I certainly can’t tell you how much you should work or how much margin you should have in your life. Each of us is wired differently; each of us has a different family structure; each of us are in different seasons of life, you need to figure all of this out for yourself with the help of your family, friends, and trusted colleagues.
However, there is one thing I can tell you for sure: there is an optimum level of work for you that will maximize your output for your mission. The flip side to this is that there is also an optimum level of margin needed in your life to maximize your output.
What does healthy margin look like in a leader’s life?
- Making time to be with God, to read the Bible, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to become overwhelmed by God’s power and goodness. A pastor I coach came to the realization that the Holy Spirit was asking him to be with God for an hour each day. He started doing this virtually every day: one hour alone with God. Maybe you do this already. If not, what difference would it make in your decision making? What difference would it make in the way you are with people—customers, peers, followers, family.
- Another example of healthy margin in a leader’s life is having enough time with loved ones. It’s not just quality time that matters, it’s also quantity time. If this weren’t so, we could get by with just quality time in our work.
- Healthy margin is a leader making time to exercise. You know you feel better and are better when you get enough exercise.
- How about time to sleep more. Time to read more. Time to enjoy some passions in life like watching movies or hiking or sky diving—whatever you really enjoy.
What does healthy margin do for you as a leader?
- It gives you time to think—to think outside the normal reactionary life most leaders experience. For some, this thinking is done with a coach who guides the exploration by asking good questions and giving great listening.
- It gives you a sharper mind, gives you better clarity about what is so in a situation, leading to better decisions about what to do in that situation.
- It gives you better energy and overall spirit. It makes you much more likely to treat people well even in anxious situations and more likely to be the person you want to be in all situations.
- It makes you more likely to have the faith and courage needed to do things that seem risky.
Lastly, how would you be different ten years from now if you had healthier margin in your life? Plot out two paths: one with more margin and one at your current level. What would the difference be over your lifespan? Maybe you would you have a longer lifespan!
Take a real step this week to create more margin in your life. It won’t happen on its own. The world will invade your margin unless you establish it and protect it.
I’m being challenged right now by the example of the pastor I mentioned to spend an hour with God each day. I’m already seeing a difference that it making in me.
In my next post I’ll talk about a variable that affects margins: the natural rhythm that plays out in life. I hope you’ll stop by the Coach’s Corner again to read it.
Until then I pray that you experience God’s rich blessings.
Post by Rodger.
Image by Seyyed Mostafa Zamani.
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