So much of the marketing world is filled with pitches and imperatives; ‘do/buy/make this and you will…’ and promises of grandness; ‘join this/that/the other thing and double/triple your…’, so many of them implying that what you have or are right now is not enough. You are lacking the secret sauce, the magic mojo, a red pill to open all the doors to your success.
I call these equations the Metrics of More. More is based on the assumption that you are lacking: money, a closet of designer shoes, a new SUV-no matter how you package or promote it, more is a message of consumption and want. There is an implied superiority and pressure to more-if you don’t follow the expected equations or formulas then you won’t succeed. But we know better, right?
My biggest problem with these metrics is that they are a one size fits all solution to our diverse lives and they ignore the fact that bigger isn’t best all the time, or for everyone. Some of us love our bitty businesses, adore our day jobs, or choose to stay small and focus on children, health, or other passions. The metrics of more looks down on smallness and pushes us to buy more, do more, make more. It forgets that thriving economies and healthy communities need variety and our lives have a natural ebb and flow. As creatives we have the amazing power to be able to choose our own equations- I call these the Metrics of Enough.
Enough recognizes that our needs are vast and different and will shift as our responsibilities and lives do. It is not about an endless pursuit of more but of loving the stage we are at right now and growing with intention. Contentment does not equal complacency! More pushes us to feel inadequate, as if staying small or feeling your own slow way forward is unacceptable-leading us to frenzied business building, over consumption, overwhelm, guilt, resentment and insecurities. More says there isn’t enough to go around so take all you can get and hold tight to it. There is a brittle, frantic neediness to more and it feeds on fear, scarcity, and uncertainty.
On the other hand, enough is abundant and has lots of breathing room. It allows you to build your business and life while defining what you need and deeply want. At each stage there is space to expand and contract. Enough gives you permission to look clearly at where you are right now and forward with intention. Your enough might very well be a 6 figure income and a house in Hollywood but maybe it is a little farm and a sweet cottage biz making jam while your children play outside. Both have value and a place as does all the range of diversity in between. Small is beautiful AND big is beautiful!
What is enough will change and shift as our lives do. When I was focused on being a full time homeschooling mama to two girls my metrics of enough defined how big I could grow my business and how much time I could dedicate to it. I needed to limit my growth because I was needed elsewhere. It is rather hilarious that now, when I thought I could not possibly field MORE, more came knocking. Opportunities to travel, potential collaborations, so many inquiries all have shown up as we are renovating, selling our house, parenting two kids and working. I am convinced success is most likely to find you in the middle of something ridiculous like doing the dishes or changing diapers–catching you with bed head and a fuzzy hot pink house coat at the most inconvenient times. You just do your thing, day after day, with joy and then all of a sudden, there it is! Demanding to be noticed and invited in. I have found that when I chase more there is never enough, but when I follow my truth more is all around me, and I have to make decisions about what doors to leap through and which to keep closed.
Almost 2 years after becoming editor of OMHG my dual roles of homeschooling full time mama/business owner don’t fit well and we are taking steps towards a different enough and leaping through some of those doors. I am trying to increase my equation with intention, setting the stage to make a larger space for building the Oh My! community. The difference between the metrics of more and the metrics of enough is the room to decide what I really want and can handle vs. ever bigger for the sake of bigger.
What we have is enough. Everything we need is here, within reach, right now. Like Alice we can get bigger and smaller as we move through life until we find the place where it is just right…and when that just right no longer fits, we can grow or shrink again. I find this beautiful and comforting! When you are feeling pressured or pushed (by others or yourself) remember that you are enough, you have enough, you do enough. The universe will expand in direct proportion to your sense of self-worth and in turn provide you with more than enough!
We are enough, we have enough, we do enough! Dive into more vs. enough with @ohmyhandmade http://bit.ly/MI7KQS click to share on Twitter
Do you feel pushed towards more by others or yourself or feel where you are now is respected by your peers & community?
Has your enough expanded & contracted as your life has changed?
What is enough looking like for you right now?
Let’s talk about this together in the comments, see you there!
