A common challenge when we have so much to deal with (family, work, parents, partners, investing, mortgage, bill, gym, friends) is breaking out of the existing rhythm and routine to figure out if we’re even headed where we want to go.
On a day-to-day basis, this isn’t an issue at all. But in the longer run, this compounds into a problem because:
In a few years the present will be the past, and we’ll be playing catch up
We might be running hard in a direction we don’t actually want to go in, because we didn’t stop to take our bearings
Underlying assumptions, patterns or problems don’t get addressed, and double down instead.
And yet, we do need to put food on the table, get the daily logistics of a family settled, get to work on time, work with the projects that are here right now.
The 70-30 rule in staying prepared for the future
Or, the 70-20-10 rule.
One way to balance our current core responsibilities with future aspirations is to design our routines so that we consistently have headspace to take our bearings and check if our overall direction is on course.
The 70-30 rule is from corporate innovation (70% core business, 30% investment into future growth areas), but there’s a parallel in HR/People functions too (70% core responsibilities, 20% other internal projects, 10% experimentation and risk).
This makes sense in different contexts:
Work - Life
Two frequent challenges here:
We have a plan for the future (early retirement, target income) and spend our effort and focus building for that, and forget to check if it’s what we really want
Or, we have no sense of why we’re doing what we’re doing, because we’re actually on a path that unfolded for us years ago and we just stayed on it. Until we hit a wall.
2. Career
If you’re seeking a promotion or a transition, it helps to prepare yourself for what you’ll be doing next, while also building visibility and new skillsets.
If you’ve been doing the same role for 2 years, it probably takes you less to do the same thing now, than it did previously. That excess capacity isn’t about churning more of the same, it’s about preparing you for the next stage.
3. Business
Steady state isn’t going to get most businesses longevity, even if it’s hard work to get there. Allocating time to (a) figure out how to stay relevant for the future; (b) building something that is scalable; (c) rethinking and reorganizing for flexibility is critical.
4. Relationships
It’s crazy how much time in relationships is about just getting stuff done, getting through it, keeping things steady. In between visiting parents, getting kids to school, getting to work, meeting friends - squeezing in date nights is already a luxury. Because…then you get to talk about how to manage the parents and kids.
There’s barely enough left to step back and go, “Hey, is this actually the kind of relationship I want, or we want? Is this a healthy dynamic? How do we make it better?”
Applying it
We don’t get to 30%, or even 10%, right away.
If you already can carve out time and energy for this, that’s great. Figure out what a good balance of now:future works for you. For some people it’s 80:20. For some people it’s 90:10.
This depends on two things:
How far you are from where you want to head
How urgent and important your current situation is. Not just urgent.
If you’re feeling completely overwhelmed right now, here’s a simplified breakdown to start with.
Get a sense of where you’re headed now, on your current trajectory in whichever domain you choose above. Rate it from 1-10 in terms of your satisfaction.
If it rates too low for you, figure out why. If it ranks high, figure out the greatest contributor.
Based on this, outline a sense of where you want to head towards. It doesn’t have to be crystal clear, or have a specific plan. It’s about a direction.
Figure out one thing - just one - that you can do to get closer to it
Decide what you’re going to drop. to make space for that one thing.
It’s about getting a foot in the door. That’s all. One step at a time.
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