HITTING THE SWEET SPOT RANGE IN LIFE AND...
FOR THE BEST RESULTS FOR THE EFFORT, LIMITING THE DOWNSIDES
A tennis racket has a sweet spot in the middle, where the most power and control over the ball occurs. In the modern era, they have added rackets with bigger sweet spots, so that you can play better. It is my hope that you will build a bigger sweet spot for your life!
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LIVING LIFE "SHOOTING THE CURL"
In surfing (which I never really did), they go for "shooting the curl" (which is pictured on my YouTube channel KahunaKeith), where you surf the wave, moving forward and sideways, bending down a bit while the top of the wave "curls" over your body.
The Buddha, after trying, initially, being wealthy, and then ascetism and sacrifice, decided that the best way was "the middle way" - not the extremes.
In a tennis racket and in life, people endeavor to "hit the sweet spot". In the tennis racket it is the area where you get the most bounce (speed) and control. In life, it is that balance in life where you get the rewards by using what pays off in life, while avoiding the "outer edges" where the risks and problems occur. (A "surfer" might live the "good life" of sun, fun, and adventure, but would have troubles with financial and shelter issues. In contrast, the excessively working overachiever may have lots of money but also lots of life stress and a poor quality of life experience. Which one is the best? Neither, as the balanced middle way is dramatically better! The person who learns Life Productivity is able to rise to the middle, from the "laid back" life, by making the gains much easier to do, while having plenty of time for oneself!)
In Life Productivity, it is doing that which has the highest payoffs per unit of your time, including being sure not to incur the costs of stress and anxiety or suffering. This is our key strategy for getting the most out of our lives with the least unjustified cost!
And, we can shoot the curl between our actual human being limitations and using our innate magnificent abilities to speed along on our life surfboards to get to where we want. With enough focused learning to do "the build", anyone who is not genetically developmentally handicapped has the basic ability and time needed to reach true happiness that is beyond the small box we are living in now - and use more of the overall box of great things available to us within human limitations (and not in the "unrealistic" expectations hypothetical box beyond reality).
VIOLATING "THE ZONE"
Yes, in life we must evaluate what the risk and cost of whatever strategy we are considering using. When we do not do this ahead of time, we are trying to ride the wave without considering what the costs are of the wave crashing on us and what the likelihood is.
Little was I aware that I would be incurring alot of burnout and misuse of my body and mind when I embarked on the "I must succeed" extreme. Nobody really cautioned me or counseled me. I just heard how it was good to "succeed" and to be a "good person". There was no wise, balanced view that I was shown. So, what I did, with some benefits of course, was to "overachieve", often overdoing it in the anxiety department (constant waves crashing on me).
I did, as I went along, learn to get some more balanced views, from the growth workshops over to the coaching relationships. Of course, they varied in view and in quality, but a few stood out.
The balancing of "free days" to help out successful entrepreneurs and small business people was very well done in my experience with The Strategic Coach. (See also Rejuvenation Days.) Earlier, one phone coaching arrangement had me taking Wednesdays off, both as a buffer and a let up in the pressure.
NOT ESTABLISHING THE "VALUES" TO BE ABLE TO "BALANCE LIFE"
Of course, you've probably read that a life where you try to get equal amounts of time into each category of life, so that it is category-balanced, is a dysfunctional myth.
The purpose of life is not artificial mathematical allocations but to do that which provides the most value in life. (This is discussed in my current books on the subject in Books, Booklets, And Summaries, and, of course, in the various written pieces on the site.)
So, if you do not adequately and realistically define what is of value in your life, you don't stand much of a chance of living the highest value life. (Follow the Values sequence all the way to writing out what activities will provide the most value to you. Of course, I give examples and suggestions where this is already thought out to give you a head start with it all.)
