The key to avoiding burnout is to do just enough every day. While that advice is simple, it’s challenging to apply because life is complex. What is “enough”?
When we look at productive people from the outside, we often assume that they are working 18 hours a day. We see people like Stephen King who publishes a book a year, and think, “Wow, that guy must write all day long.” That’s not the case.
In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King writes the following:
One of my readers recently asked me this: “I just finished Carnegie’s ‘How To Win Friends and Influence People,’ and I wanted to ask for your experience with this book. I ask you this because I really want to know how to improve my social skills. I’m in my 20’s and I really want to make friends. Social anxiety is a thing in my life but I’m really looking forward to getting through it.”
Dale Carnegie’s book was published in 1936—more than 80 years ago! It’s been reissued and edited over the years, but the content has been mostly the same. Is this “old” book’s advice still relevant in today’s age of social media, multitasking, and social pressure?
In 1994, Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, retired from the Chicago Bulls and tried to pursue a professional baseball career. Some say Michael was paying tribute to his father, who used to be a semi-pro baseball player and loved the game immensely.
From the start, everyone criticized Jordan’s baseball skills. His swings weren’t particularly good, and he was a slow runner in baseball terms.
The funny thing is that Michael Jordan’s first sport was baseball. And he was pretty good as a kid, but at 31 years old, he simply wasn’t good enough for the MLB. It makes me think; what if Jordan never pursued basketball?
There’s a quote that I thought about when I saw Jordan’s baseball adventure (there’s an excellent ESPN doc called ‘Jordan Rides the Bus’ about this). The quote is attributed to Einstein:
Imagine that your life is like a wheel with six spokes. A wheel will keep moving if one of your spokes is broken or missing. But if multiple spokes are not working, your wheel will collapse.
To live an optimal life, you need to make sure all your spokes are tight. With a functional wheel, you’ll be able to move forward smoothly. In contrast, if your spokes aren’t tight, you might risk a bump in the wheel, which will make it hard to move.
I call this Six Spokes Theory. For most of us, this is the best way to look at life. Here’s what the spokes represent: