Moderation and balance improve emotional and physical well-being by avoiding extremes of hyper-productivity or passivity. Oscillating between intense activity and inactivity produces long-term overwhelm and imbalance. The Goldilocks principle—seeking a just-right middle ground—applies to eating, sleeping, movement, and a broader range of daily activities. Allocating time across accomplishment, connection, and enjoyment fosters grounding and centeredness. Visualizing these domains as a pie chart encourages more varied daily engagement. Individual needs and circumstances will change daily, so proportions may shift during illness, deadlines, or vacations, but maintaining overall balance promotes regulation and sustainability.
We live in a society that often supports and sometimes even promotes extremes. From workaholics to bed rot, the expectation of being uber-productive or sinking into the comfort of being a couch potato swirls around us in confusing, frantic ways. Swinging like a pendulum from one side to the other might sometimes be invigorating or exciting, but this is one-sided and overwhelming in the long run.
As with so many things in life, the notion of balance over the extremes is so much more appropriate, healthy, and sustainable. Moderation may feel more ho-hum boring at times, but the not-too-much and not-too-little is almost always better than either extreme overall. The Goldilocks principle of finding the just-right, middle-ground approach is something toward which we can strive. This principle naturally applies to the basics of eating, sleeping, and movement; however, applying balance to a broader perspective of activities is also valuable.
The acronym of ACE is a way that I find helpful to consider the balance of three primary domains of activities in daily life: accomplishment, connection, and enjoyment. It can be pictured like a pie chart divided into three pieces, suggesting a generally more balanced approach to including a wide variety of activities on most days. When we are able to have some portion of our day focused on accomplishment but also have time for connection and enjoyment, we are generally more centered and grounded.
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