ThoughtCrafting Friday Tool: Optimal Window

Assessing your needs.

How much do you really need in life? How much money?  How much success?  How much support?  How much work?  How much vacation?  How much love? How much work time?  How much free time?  How much family time?  How much alone time?

All of these things are on a continuum.  They aren't binary.  They aren't on ...or off.  No, they exist as a continuum of amounts, from the absent to the wildly excessive abundance and everything in-between.  You can have these things in abundance...or be completely void of them.  And the "sweet" spot for them is probably somewhere between these two extremes.

How much is enough?

When you don't have enough of something, you have a tendency to think that more is better. That's true to an extent, but when you are truly deficient in something, all that you can concentrate on is getting enough of it.  Getting to the point of sufficiency. When you are deficient....you don't see the potential problems that can exist with excess. Of being in a position where you have TOO much of something.  Too much money.  Too many friends.  Too many opportunities.  It's hard to imagine, but it's true.  Let's take a minute and give this some thought.  How much it TOO much money?  Is it a million dollars?  Is it a billion dollars?  But on the other hand, what level is insufficient?  Is it when you can't pay your bills?  Or put food on the table?  Certainly, those seem easy to visualize, but too much money?  Is that really possible?

"Money is the root of all evil...only when you don't have enough." 

What lies in between these to extremes?

When you have enough, but not too much, you are in a great place. It's where you don't have to be occupied with obtaining more, which can steal all of your attention.  When you don't have excessive amounts...you don't have to spend time on being on the defensive, worrying about losing what you have, or worse, having others cause us problems. 

Pick one item in your life.  It can be anything, but for the sake of this discussion...let's look at education.  Certainly, a good education is important, but what does that really mean?  What is a "good" education for one person may be too little for another person?  I believe it's relatively safe to say that in the US, most people would consider a high school education as the minimum that you should have.  It's the "sufficient" level.  If you have less than that, you are certainly at a disadvantage compared to others who have that level of education.  (But I will also state that in some cases, this may not be the case...this is a generalization).  When you have that level of education, you have a basic foundation.  You are better prepared to do more in your life than without that level of quality education.  And it sets the "bar" for you. And when you understand it's importance, if you don't have that high school diploma, your focus is on attaining it.  

When you get more and more education opportunities open up.  While you are in the "optimal window" more IS better. But at some point, depending on your circumstances, more becomes too much.  While other people can't "steal"  your excess education, there can be other ramifications of excessive education.  When that happens, individuals can be too qualified for positions and thereby educated their self out of opportunities.  Moreover getting to that position costs money, and you have accumulated debt in educating yourself out of opportunities.  Those are the unintended consequences of excess education. 

You can go through this same exercise for a variety of different items.  Time. Money. Influence. Relationships. The list goes on and on.  And for each of these items, only you know what is sufficient for you and what constitutes excess. In each case there are several variables that influence what constitutes sufficiency and what is excess. They are WHAT the item is.  Next it's WHEN is it in your life. And the CONTEXT of your current circumstances. 

The problem of too little

When you have too little of an item, which is defined as the amount you need for your basic living, then your become totally occupied with obtaining a sufficient amount of that item. Until you do, you can't feel comfortable.  You are constantly concerned with achieving that level...and everything else you do suffers. That is your life's preoccupation.    

The problem of too much

When you have too much of an item, which is best defined by you alone, then you become pre-occupied about losing what you have, or in some cases, the secondary problems that arise from such excess. Money is a great example.  Look at what happens to a Lotto winner who has "excess money" when they win.  Often their greed, and/or the greed of others manifests and ruins their life in many different ways.  That would not have happened if they had won "enough", but not "too much".  

The "Optimal Window"

When you are in the optimal window, you can feel comfortable with what you have, but not worry about the problems of excess.  This is a comfort zone where things are good.  As described by Eben Pagan, this is the zone where you should feel gratitude for what you have.  To be appreciative for the blessings that you have.  It's a positive internal  positive feeling that is, itself, a reward for your achievement. And in this zone you have a healthy motivation to achieving more.  You are not preoccupied with attaining that "sufficiency" level or worrying about the "excessive" level.

ThoughtCrafting Tool: Optimal Window

By making a conscious effort to objectively looking at everything that you do and achieve or obtain using the "Sufficient vs. Excess" ThoughtCrafting Tool, you can stay oriented to what is important in your life.  You learn to appreciate your achievements and not take them for granted.  You can become aware when various items in your life become excessive and orient yourself to get back into the optimal window by helping others or changing your own practice. And importantly, you can appreciate what you have done and earned.

Utilize this question daily when examining everything you do...

Am I in the OPTIMAL WINDOW? Or am I experiencing insufficiency or excess? 

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