Almost every person I talk to and every organization I work with, focuses on growth. Yet that growth is often in the form of selling more products, making more money and being more and more productive. These are all great goals and yet, will there ever be a time where growth is working less, selling less, less money, and less intensity? Will the leaders of an organization ever say to their employees, “Next year’s goal is to maintain the status quo?”
Am I about to be run out of town for addressing the elephant in the room? Why must we increase sales every year? Why must we make more money? Increase profits? Increase productivity? Why can’t we coast for a year or two (or more)? Why are we always seeking more and more and more, and yet we seem more and more miserable year after year? People are tired, overwhelmed, stressed out, and leaving their jobs in droves.
What if we sought the status quo in some areas of life and continued to grow in others? What if we kept our sales numbers the same for a year or two, but used some of that time to read some books, spend time with our families, get to know our teammates a bit better? What if we used that time to think, create, meditate, exercise? What if companies found out that ultimately less is more and that periodically embracing the status quo will actually be the beginning of outrageous growth eventually?
Why must we make more money? Increase productivity? What if we sought the status quo at work and used that time to think, create, meditate, exercise? #goals #productivity #rest Click To TweetEvery year I write down my business goals and my personal goals. This year I slammed into 2022 exhausted and overwhelmed from intensely seeking to out-produce the previous year. Instead of writing down even higher goals for 2022, I decided instead to focus on recovering from the last year, and on being in the status quo and enjoying that space. Interestingly, in doing so, some other really fascinating opportunities came my way.
Enjoying the status quo doesn’t mean we aren’t growing. Rather, it means we are choosing in some areas of life to be happy with exactly what is and not push ourselves to change it, at least in the moment. It turns out that my goals for 2022 are to enjoy the status quo and see where being in that space leads me. So far, I’m enjoying the ride. Let me know how you do.
Love,
Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC
Having quit the status quo four years ago, I say hurray. Jump in the water is fine.
I thought of something similar a few weeks ago. We’re told to do more and more but it’s usually for everyone else and at the expense of our own lives and energy. Take a gap year or more to use energy to do more on your inside and make profits, whatever is important to you, for yourself.