Is your enough, enough?
‘The issue : X+ 1 = Expected | X + 10 = Target !’
We all wake up everyday, do daily chores, whether, at work or home, we mostly do the same thing — day after day, and we give it our best. And hence, there are days when I wonder, how should I approach my life, how do I measure if I am on the right track, if I am adding value, doing enough? Is doing enough, enough? If a measurement metric is available, what’s the formula / what should be the strategy?
‘The Solution — Breaking the Circuit !’
I see everyday as a circuit. In planetary terms— an ORBIT.
Our current circumstances in terms of our finances, inheritance, talent & opportunities determine our ‘current orbit’ (lets call it ‘x’).
A way to measure our progress would be to check if we have moved to a better or higher orbit or are we simply managing to cling on to the one that was given to us.
Remember, even holding onto the current orbit will need some effort (x+1)— but this is anyway expected of you. It will keep you in the same orbit with slightly better standard of living. However, real progress will happen by putting in ‘extraordinary’ effort, ‘escape velocity’* effort and hopping onto a higher orbit — our ‘x +10’ effort !
To start, make a chart with all your roles & write what you are doing to cling onto the current orbit ( x+1) & also write what will be your escape velocity effort(x+10)
‘Inspiration’
Our driver comes from a small village, his parents never studied, family has a lot of debt & agriculture can only provide so much money. However, his parents, unlike other villagers, ensured he goes to the village school for basic education (lets say, this orbit is x). In order to elevate the standard of living for his family, he moved to Delhi.
Now he continues to send money home, is bringing family out of debt. This will help them perhaps do slightly better than other villagers (their x+1 orbit).
However, over and above this, he brought his kids to Delhi and is sending them to a nearby English medium school (again something other drivers in his area are not doing). He could have taken the easy route and got them to study in the village, thereby saved more money but he opted for a different route. And now, that he has them here, he keeps finding ways and means to ensure they get the right education- he shares their report cards with us, discusses their progress (& we end up supporting it in whatever way we can but its largely because he is driven, driven to create extraordinary value) — this extra effort is his x+10 input -escape velocity effort. He is thinking (& simultaneously working towards) many orbits higher for his kids/family. Now if his kids actually end up getting good education and jobs (escape velocity), their family’s orbit would shift multi folds higher. ( X +1 0 !)
‘Conclusion’
I have observed this many times now — its only those who want to change things, and work towards it, end up moving the orbit.
Nothing changes if nothing changes. Start by making a list of roles you play (example of a format is given above). Ask yourself — what can I do in this role, that by the time I leave, orbit has shifted for the better — at-least few levels up if not more. ! And do this everyday, it won’t happen overnight! Its a journey!
And remember x+10 is the target !
*Escape Velocity effort — Dictionary meaning — ‘the lowest velocity which a body must have in order to escape the gravitational attraction of a particular planet or other object’. In the context of this article or your daily life, it is that amount of ‘extra’ effort which is required to leave the current orbit. A normal passenger plane flies within the same range, however, its the Rocket — which escapes both the gravitational pulls and the orbit !
