Progress is a Dynamic Target: Why Margin and Recovery Matter
Progress is a Dynamic Target: Why Margin and Recovery Matter
Have you ever been crushing it during a season? You go to bed feeling accomplished, eager to wake up and conquer a new day. Your energy feels limitless… until things start to shift. Slowly at first, then it all once. The routine that was once a joy now feels like another item to be completed on an overwhelming to-do list.
What happened? Why aren’t the systems and habits that once worked failing us now?
We forget that progress is not a static target. Growth isn’t linear, and what served you before may not serve you now. This summer, I’ve leaned on two key principles to protect my growth:
Build margin into your goals, and
Optimize recovery to expand your capacity.
Space to Live, Space to Grow
This summer has been difficult. I share this in the spirit of vulnerability, not complaint. I struggle with migraines, especially during stormy summer months. My production capacity is suffering significantly.
As the work piles up, the guilt creeps in for taking extra rest time, even though I know the migraines aren’t my fault. I work to identify and mitigate potential triggers where I can, but some days feel like a losing battle. The hard days are even more frustrating when you know what you’re capable of on a good one.
Build Margins for Optimal Living
During seasons of limited capacity, I remind myself of the floor and ceiling goals.
We talk about ceiling goals, our big, audacious dreams. However, nobody shares their floor goals, our minimum standard for living well. We live within the bounds of our best and worst days, so if we don’t have much room for grace when our floor (minimum standard) is also our ceiling (big, audacious goal). We must create enough space for ourselves to live between our best and worst as we consistently push the boundaries of our capacity upwards.
Let’s get into the habit of setting our minimum standards of living well alongside our big goals. For example:
My (ceiling) goal is to log 30 minutes of zone 2 cardio with 15 minutes of strength training or stretching every day
My (floor) goal is hitting 6,000 steps even if I don’t have the energy to make it to the gym
This allows me to stay aligned with my values, even on the days I feel depleted.
Reflection: How can you build better margins to support optimal living for your best and worst days?
Optimize Recovery to Expand Capacity
When I start a new business, project, or hobby, I am ALL IN - showing up with Energy-Level-101%. Then, in approximately four weeks, I'm telling my husband, “I don’t know why I’m so tired.” Can you relate?
I love to dream and create, but I treat the recovery process like that 2-star diner you’d only visit as a last resort. My sweet, patient husband always reminds me that we have to train recovery just as enthusiastically as we train performance.
Recovery increases our capacity and is truly one of the best tools to utilize as we approach diminishing returns.
Creativity low? Take a 15-minute walk in God’s beautiful creation.
Energy fading? Take a 20-minute power nap.
Focus wandering? Practice 5 minutes of breathwork.
Anxiety rising? Take 15 minutes to read God’s Word and take every thought captive (2 Cor 10:5).
Recover like an Athlete
To improve our performance, we must improve our recovery.
We may not consider ourselves athletes in the traditional sense, but to make meaningful contributions through our work and build deep connections in our relationships, we’d be wise to train and condition our spirit, mind, and body like one. Elite athletes train hard and prioritize recovery.
Create a self-care recovery list just as you do a to-do list:
What refreshes your spirit?
What renews your mind?
What nourishes your body?
Reflection: What’s one thing you can do to optimize your recovery today?
Exceedingly Abundantly Awaits:
We all hit plateaus. You’re not alone. And sometimes just knowing that helps restore our hope that better days are ahead. We grow through the plateaus when we consistently show up, regardless of how we feel, to do the hard work of becoming who we are created to be. Our perseverance is an encouragement to inspire others to do the same.
One of God’s many gifts to us is that progress is a dynamic process, not a static target. We accomplish more than we ever thought possible, only to realize that we are being called to a higher level yet again. God calls us to abandon the stagnation of our comfort zone to step into the glory of His “exceedingly, abundantly” that awaits us on the other side of obedience.
Reflection:
Do you have your audacious goals written down?
Do you have your minimum standards for optimal living written down?
Is there enough margin between those two for you to live well?
What area(s) would you like to expand your capacity in?
What can you do to intentionally optimize rest and recovery this week?
Faith Encouragement:
Corinthians 10:5 – We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Ephesians 3:20-21 – Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Stephen Guise – “Your floor and ceiling are important considerations in life. Your floor in this case is the absolute minimum you need to be satisfied in life. Your ceiling is your upper potential and wildest dreams … Perfectionism is a problem because it makes ‘perfection’ your floor.”