"This porridge is too hot," Goldilocks exclaimed.
So she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.
"This porridge is too cold."
So she tasted the last bowl of porridge.
"Ahhh, this porridge is just right!" she said happily.
And she ate it all up.

——"Goldilocks and the 3 Bears" children's story

The "Goldilocks phenomenon" refers to the necessity that planetary conditions such as size or temperature be "just right" in order to sustain life. The term derives from the story of Goldilocks, who preferred porridge which was "not too hot, and not too cold".

A widely used example of the effect is our solar system's habitable zone (also referred to as the "Goldilocks Zone"), which is likewise neither too hot, nor too cold for life to exist, and where the Earth is found. Astronomer James Lovelock, proponent of the Gaia Hypothesis, is credited with coining the term.

A Goldilocks economy is a not too hot or cold economy, sustaining moderate economic growth and a low inflation allowing for a market friendly monetary policy. The name comes from the children's story The Three Bears. The first use of this phrase is credited to David Shulman of Salomon Brothers who wrote "The Goldilocks Economy: Keeping the Bears at Bay" in March 1992.

The Goldilocks Principle

Do you remember the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears? It's quite a simple story and as an adult only takes minutes to read. What most of us do remember is the repeated theme of 'too hot, too cold, just right', 'too hard, too soft, just right'.

But how did Goldilocks know which was which? That's the question that comes up for me. How did she know which was 'just right' for her? There wasn't a lot of thought involved.. she 'just' knew. And that's the message for all of us: we all 'just' know what's 'just right' for us, where our personal balance lies. It's simply (though not necessarily easily!) just a matter of trusting ourselves.

We go through life and hear different messages, depending on the day, time, country, mood, whatever. Indeed, we give different messages - to the same people - on different days! "You can't get anywhere without a plan". "Stop planning and start doing." "Don't trust everyone you meet." "You can't get anywhere without trusting." "Don't wear your heart on your sleeve." "You have to start showing emotion."

The messages may seem inconsistent, but they are (almost) always appropriate for where we are in the moment. And that's key to not getting stuck in the mire of mixed messages. What's going on right now? Is it too much? Is it too little? Listen within for the answer. It's there --- and you can trust it. I call it the "Goldilocks Principle" and it's a great tool to use. What is 'just right' for me, right now?

So often, as we move through life, when we decide to institute some new action or behavior, in order to move out of the 'status quo' we find it necessary to move from one extreme to another. We go from no activity to trying to spend 3 hours at the gym or walking a mile. We go from no focus on quality to filtering every last thing we do through a quality sieve. We go from spending all of our time home alone to being out and about 6 nights out of 7. This, I call the "Pendulum Effect" and it works hand in hand with the Goldilocks Principle.

Although we intuitively know what is 'just right' for us, we do use clues. And the clues we use are from the extremes. Too hot, too cold. Too little, too much. Too hard, too soft. Too black, too white. We know when something is "too" anything for us. The Pendulum Effect allows us to take action. And the Goldilocks Principle let us know when enough is enough. The important trick is to remember to ask "What is 'just right' for me, right now?