Remember that Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg?
The one where the farmer finds a glittering, golden-colored egg sitting beneath his goose?
SPOILER ALERT: This happens every morning, and the farmer becomes extremely wealthy. But he also becomes greedy and impatient.
One day in his frustration and greed, he kills the goose, hoping to get all of the golden eggs at once from inside the goose.
As we all know, he finds nothing. And now, he has neither a goose nor any more golden eggs.
Well, You're the Goose!
Don't get me wrong. You're safer than that goose! But over and above the traditional moral of the dangers of greed, the fable can have another moral about balance.
You, your mind and your body have the ability to produce glitteringly golden eggs - whether they be results in your work life, home life, in personal relationships or out in the world at large.
But there will always be a tension between our output and our capability, our capacity to put things out into the world.
To maintain the P/PC Balance, the balance between the golden egg (production) and the health and welfare of the goose (production capability) is often a difficult judgment call. But I suggest it is the very essence of effectiveness.
Stephen Covey
Is Your Balance Off?
With almost all of my clients, the balance is off. Whether it is about the difficulty moving away from downtime and beginning with productivity or whether there is the belief that they have to earn self-care time with productivity, the balance is off. And often, quality recharging activities are hard to start, even though they are enjoyable. Think of movement, going out to socialize, going for a walk. It’s much easier to initiate something less replenishing, like checking email or watching a show.
How you are fairing with taking care of your "production capability"? How are you giving yourself physical, emotional, mental and spiritual input? And if you are not doing these things enough, there are some small changes I invite you to make!
Want to do it together? Let's chat!