I just read a great post by a friend; she is not happy with how she spends her non-working times. She works very hard when at work, 12 hour days, but is not happy with the level of productivity or at least activity when not at work.
In the comments, I tried to thank for the thoughts & encourage her down the path she is on, and one thing came to me:
production, investing, consumption & relaxation
That might be a great way to look at life.
production
This is the act of trying to cause something to happen in the short term. You walk out on a stage of a body building contest, you release a post/article/book/podcast to the world, you go to work, you build a desk, you cut the grass.
A life without visible results can cause your heart to be sick … you need some production & results of production in your life.
investing
This is like production in you are attempting to cause something to happen, but the time frame is longer. The easy way is looking at investing in your retirement account, but it can also be putting time into training for your body building competition, learning a new skill, or reading a non-fiction book. Anytime the cause and effect relationship is delayed and unsure it’s more about investing then production.
consumption
Stop eating & you die.
Stop trading with others – produce everything you have, hold and consume & you become poorer. We must take into ourselves both physical goods, but also services of others, including friends and family.
In relationships there are times you are producing – providing for others, or investing – helping with the goal of a long term change, but there must also be consumption – gaining joy, laughter, entertainment or other desirable goods, services or emotions that you consume.
relaxation
Our body needs to recharge.
It’s good to be around stimulus, but it’s also important to unplug from time to time. As a parent of twin babies, I can say – without relaxation, sleep, or rest, it’s hard to do any of the three other areas.
At the same time, it’s hard to relax if you have not consumed the right stuff, produced, or invested for your dreams.
What about Giving?
Well, what about it? I am huge on giving, but understand that from my perspective giving a gift is either production or investing, depending on what the gift is and what the recipient of the gift is. I get something out of giving. I give because I want to, because a desire inside me is to either cause, prevent or stop something from happening.
Giving is good, giving is important, but for me giving is a part of life, not a category or way of looking at life.
Yes. Keeping that circle balanced is an important thing. An out-of-round circle doesn’t roll very well.