After my company relocated our family from Louisiana to Georgia in 1993, we began making frequent return trips home for holidays and special occasions. Over the first few trips, we always overpacked. The trunk of our vehicle was nearly full, our three daughters occupied the backseat, and the floor in front of them was loaded with snacks, water, and things we thought we needed for every possibility.
Each time we made that nearly 1,000-mile round trip, I asked myself the same question: how do we make this more comfortable? There was always lively debate about trunk space — because of the possibility that we hadn’t packed everything we might need for the journey.
Is this the case in your life? Are you overpacking for your journey, afraid you won’t have what you need for any and every possibility?
Since possibilities are not eventualities, it may be worth considering the value of keeping your spaces clear. Space equates to margin. And margin — in your finances, your physical spaces, your relationships, your schedule — is one of the most underrated career moves a professional can make.
What Margin Actually Is
Consider that a few of your most important spaces include your financial space, your physical space, your relationship space, your spiritual space, your emotional space, and your mental space. Keeping these areas free of clutter goes a long way toward reducing overwhelm — because you aren’t attempting to focus on the myriad of things appearing before you, and those things aren’t weighing on your mind.
Clutter utilizes your energy much like your smartphone uses battery power when it attempts to refresh open applications — even when you aren’t using them.
Could you miraculously reduce your levels of overwhelm by ensuring you have margin in just two areas of your life? I believe you can. The two I recommend starting with are your finances and your physical space. These two categories provide the greatest opportunity to grow your margin — and the greatest ripple effect into every other area of your life.
Financial Margin
Financial margin — savings, breathing room, buffer — allows you the space to pursue a career that will engage and fulfill you, not merely provide a paycheck. It gives you the ability to donate time, talent, and treasure to the causes that matter to you in a meaningful and intentional way.
Margin in your finances is so important that lenders factor it into their equations when determining your credit worthiness. The debt-to-income ratio is essentially a measure of the amount of margin in your finances. Borrowers with more margin are seen as better risks. That principle doesn’t stop at the bank — it applies to every decision you make about how you spend your time and energy as well.
Financial margin is miraculous because it allows you the freedom to engage in meaningful work — and to be a true miracle to those in your local and global community.
Physical Margin
Consider something as simple as a book. Words don’t dominate every inch of the page. Margin appears at the top, bottom, and sides as a frame for the reader. Shouldn’t your life enjoy the same frame — the same buffer, the same breathing room?
When you walk into a cluttered home, workspace, or car from one that is uncluttered, you can feel your energy shift as the space feels more constricted. Physical margin is miraculous because it raises your energy levels and allows focus to occur more naturally. The miracle of clarity seems to happen more easily when our spaces are less chaotic.
The Cost of a Life Without Margin
Have you stopped to consider what a life with little to no margin actually produces? I believe it becomes a life of overwhelm — absent of generosity, with fewer mentors for the next generation, less time with the people we love, and less engagement in the work we were built to do.
The reason for each of these losses may be simple: there’s no margin to allow for generosity. No room to give. No space to breathe.
If you recognize yourself in that description, you may also be experiencing what I call UNDERwhelm — the quiet frustration of a career that isn’t fully using what you have to offer. The two conditions are more connected than most people realize.
Three Beliefs to Begin With
Regardless of where you are right now, here are three foundational beliefs and the actions that follow from each:
1. Part of all you earn is yours to keep.
Begin by saving 5% each time you’re paid, with the goal of gradually reaching 10%. Tithe your money toward the areas where you’ve received your greatest blessings. Live within your own means — not your parents’, not the Kardashians’.
2. Each day is yours, even if you work for someone else.
Declutter your spaces — starting with the one you spend the most time in. Begin each day 15 minutes earlier than usual, and gradually work toward an hour. Get involved with a cause whose vision matches the size of yours.
3. You were put here for a reason, and it’s up to you to find out why.
Turn the television off an hour earlier each night. Begin a journal — write what you’re grateful for each day. Take the time to mentor someone who is where you once were.
Now it’s your turn. Which of these beliefs and actions will you adopt to make your days more miraculous? And which beliefs would you add to this list?
Share in the comments below.
