It is a much-believed fact that anything done in excess could be injurious to health. Be it sugar or salt. Be it very little sleep or too much of it. We need to find a balance in all aspects of life: health, success and the over-all well being. Take a child that is trying to open a bag of chocolates, for example. Any supervising adult would tell the child not to indulge too much. The child, frowning upon the advice, would throw caution to the wind and eat as much candy as he could; only to suffer from a tummy ache later on.
This phenomenon is surprisingly not specific to the child with the bag of chocolates. It applies to many scenarios in life. A researcher studied this phenomenon and presented it on a graph as an inverted ‘U’. He believed and proved that in any given experience, the effects are increasingly positive until it reaches the maximum amount of satisfaction that can be derived. After this point, the result turns negative, and the downward slope begins.
This is called the Goldilocks Effect. What is the Goldilocks Theory?
The Goldilocks Theory:
The Earth seems to be the perfect distance from the sun for lots of water. Venus is too close to the sun and too hot for flowing water on its surface.
The Goldilocks principle states that something must fall within certain margins, as opposed to reaching extremes. The Goldilocks principle is derived from a children’s story “The Three Bears” in which a little girl named Goldilocks finds a house owned by three bears. Just as Goldilocks found the porridge that was just right, the Earth seems to be just right for living creatures.
Applying this analogy to our lives, we need to come up with a module that regulates the quantity. The top two things that we need to watch out for what we eat and what we do.
Our Consumption
The famous line – you are what you eat – is very accurate. Tell me your diet, and I will tell you who you are ( a slightly modified version of the cliched ‘show me your friend, and I will tell you who you are) can be a perfect analogy to be applied here.
We all know the story of the boy who ate too many cashew nuts. We have told and retold the tale of the greedy man who killed the goose that gave him golden eggs. Too much of anything is good for nothing, and it can be explained best with salt and sugar. Too much sugar leads to diabetes. Too less will lead to fatigue. The quantity of salt affects your blood pressure similarly.
Our Physical Activity
Designing our activity plays a significant role in promoting good health. It is not just the wrong act that could harm you, but the right one when performed in excess or too little. Take exercise for example. If you run beyond what your body can handle, you will be bound to get injured. Too little practice and you are not likely to reap its benefits.
Watch out for the intensity, duration and frequency. Understand your body and do not push beyond what you think you cannot handle. We envision a tremendous potential to maintain and promote health if physical activity could be designed according to the Goldilocks Principle.
The Right Balance with Prayojana
The ‘just right' paradigm is vital to your physical, mental and emotional state of mind. At Prayojana, we help you reach this optimum level by providing you with consultations with experts. We understand you, get to know you better and provide you with the best routine that can enable you to live life to your fullest.
After all, that is what we believe in. Design your life to be just right. That is the best way to be healthy. Do Contact Us if we can assist you in managing your routines and daily needs in any way.
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