Margin isn't scarcity. It's abundance healthily expressed.
Most leaders think they need to do more to accomplish more. I’m not so sure.
From my experience, the leaders who create the most impact aren't the ones who say yes to everything—they're the ones who know exactly what deserves their yes.
So why do we keep saying yes to things that don't deserve it?
The Two Thieves of Your Calling
There are two culprits stealing your capacity for what matters most: overcommitment and overextension.
Overcommitment is saying yes too often. You fear that saying no will damage relationships or cause you to miss valuable opportunities. But here's the truth: every yes becomes a no to something else. When you say yes to that board position, you're saying no to focused time with your team. When you accept that speaking engagement, you're saying no to strategic planning.
Saying yes is a form of debt—it costs you time in the future.
Saying no is a form of credit—it saves you time for what matters most.
Overextension is pursuing too many things at once. You spread yourself across so many priorities that your excellence diminishes and your focus scatters. Excellence requires focus, and overextension robs you of both.
When you carry too much, everything becomes harder to move.
The Question That Changes Everything
Here's what you need to ask about every commitment currently in your life:
"Does this directly serve my calling, or is it just something I'm good at?"
Just because you could doesn't mean you should.
Just because they asked doesn't mean you have to say yes.
Some of your current commitments are big rocks—essential to who you're becoming and what you're building. Others are small pebbles that seemed important when you picked them up but now just take up space.
The mission you're called to accomplish deserves your best energy, not your leftover energy.
What Simplicity Actually Looks Like
Living with margin doesn't mean living with less responsibility. It means living with more intention.
It's creating margin in your life—not so you can fill it with more commitments, but so you can go deeper with the commitments that actually matter.
When you have margin, you can:
- Respond thoughtfully instead of reactively
- Invest in relationships that multiply your impact
- Think strategically instead of just tactically
- Show up fully present instead of partially distracted
Margin isn't empty space.
It's capacity for what matters most.
Your Next Move
Look at your calendar for the next month. Ask yourself:
- Which commitments directly advance my calling? (Keep these)
- Which commitments are just things I'm good at? (Question these)
- What would I have capacity for if I eliminated the second category?
Remember: You're not called to do everything you're capable of doing. You're called to do the specific things only you can do—and to do them with excellence.
The road to finding margin starts with one decision: protecting your predetermined yeses by saying no to everything else.
Your calling is too important to be crowded out by commitments that don't serve it.
What are you going to stop doing so you can start being who you're called to be?