Queen of the Middle

I am the Queen of the middle level of effort. If something takes effort on a scale from 1–10, I find myself regularly in the 4–6 zone.

If something is a 1, like picking up a sock, or cleaning a glass, I end up not doing it. When the 1’s and 2’s add up, I will tackle all of them at once. Because 4–1’s equals, well a 4.

The 4’s, that is my zone. Needs a little effort but not too much. Selecting and ordering something online is a 4. Organizing the kitchen, a 4. Answering some emails can be a 4. balancing our check book and paying bills, a 4.

I push off the 8–10’s. The complex things like mapping a strategy or writing a book. Leveraging social media to support our brands or regularly using QuickBooks.

I’m starting to see, unfortunately, that the life I want and who I want to be are in the two areas I don’t focus. Our house environment is made up almost exclusively of 1’s and 2’s. Dishes to be cleaned, laundry to be done, magazines to be stored.

And big change rests in the 9’s and 10’s. Strategic visions that are sticky and need time to develop with no clear end. Balancing client needs. Losing weight and developing a brand. These are either intellectually or emotionally more intense. And I’ve been hiding from them for a while now.

This journey to shut up is causing me to sit and think about this, and what it means.