Living Your Life By The Goldilocks Rule, Finding Whats Just Right For You
Start writing a post
Featured

Living Your Life By The Goldilocks Rule, Finding Whats Just Right For You

Sometimes challenge can be good, I know it's hard to believe.

1276
Girl
Unsplash

If you constantly live your life trying to push yourself beyond you limits, it can exhaust you. If you focus on the things you're good at and never try to expand your horizons, you're not going to get very far. There is a happy medium in between the two that following can help you balance a healthy lifestyle. This isn't a new concept to anyone, it's a well known factor. It is said that, " humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right." That's what keeps us going, that perfect balance. So where can we apply this in our own lives?

If you want to learn how to stay motivated to reach your goals, then there is a second piece of the motivation puzzle that is crucial to understand. It has to do with achieving that perfect blend of hard work and happiness. On the other hand, if a challenge is too easy, or simple, the individual will lose interest and will, again, not complete it. However, when presented with a challenge that is 'just right' it has been found that this establishes the peak productivity and motivational levels for a person.

The Goldilocks Rule can be applied to literally any activity you do. It can be applied to work, to studying, to exercise or even to cleaning your house. Let's say you're a runner. You run a 5k every week. Someone who is a better runner than you challenges you to run two a week. This is way out of your comfort zone and too much of a challenge. Now take another person, who is in terrible shape. They don't even know what a 5k is. They ask you to run 2 laps around the track. Half a mile. To you this is simple. It's not even a challenge.

The space in between these two extremes is where motivation and challenge happen. Push yourself a little farther to get better and increase your distance at a steady rate.

Not only can the Goldilocks rule improve your motivation it had been proven that living by this rule can make you happier. This is because when you are performing tasks that are at your peak productivity level, you enter a state of flow which is difficult to reach if you're performing tasks that are too easy or too difficult. During a state of flow you reach your peak productivity levels and are therefore making progress and achieving your goals very quickly, which makes you happier.

The goldilocks story is something we all learned as a kid. It's something that follows us past our childhood and continues to be something we can all live by in our lives. If you use the goldilocks rule in your life, it can make you more successful, if applied in the right way – and this is to push yourself just outside your comfort zone every day.

Report this Content
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

58004
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

37365
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

959028
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

192505
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments