I call myself a juggler, I was wondering when it started…..In 2014, when I was no longer a part of the corporate world, I was looking for a new start, a new identity beyond the familiar ones of a mom, a wife and a homemaker. My family moved to Hong Kong for my husband’s job. It was time to set up a new life in a new place, away from the comfort zone of Mumbai, which felt like home. It was where I worked for a decade, built a home, birthed my 2 boys and rocked in the vibes of a city ‘that never sleeps’.
So I started my journey of goal setting in six different aspects of my life. Collaborating with my buddy coaches propelled this holistic way of looking at life. I also launched a new career as an executive coach. It seemed important to be deliberate about my progress and growth in the void of a corporate performance evaluation structure. Until now, I was captive to this familiar and arduous evaluation process in the academic and then professional world. I started creating my structure in the form of long-term goals. I called them the six balls I needed to juggle. They spanned across aspects of relationships with family, friends, interests like travel, art, health and explorations in the professional aspect. These, I identified as the long-term focus in my life then. I broke them down further into small baby steps and measurable ones with timelines (like SMART goals). For example, it would be travel (to a specific place), running the marathon (place, year), (number or places) to hike and explore, (number of) paintings to make, (number of) exhibitions to have, (number/ name) of organizations to reach out to for coaching assignments etc.
It was unhindered and without fear - only my diary and me were privy to my goals! I religiously wrote down my goals every year and compared them to the progress or success I had. I would not have achieved much success in many instances, but I would have achieved success many times. I would carry the goals to the next year or sometimes just drop them from the list, nonchalantly if they became less significant. The sieving process was a key ingredient. I wasn’t too disheartened about being unable to tick off all items on the list but I was incredibly pleased to have achieved a few. In my celebratory thoughts, I said “when you aim for the stars, you fall high enough” and kept going.
I continued juggling these balls for a decade, as my circumstances changed in my life - we moved across continents, my husband changed professional roles, the needs of my children changed, parents aged, covid happened. Through all transitions, these balls became my anchors. However, some of these balls were the ‘glass balls’, which I could not drop - like my children and family. But the other balls ‘dropped’ (sometimes) or kept changing in dimensions. For example, I decided to stop working for Zaya (an edtech startup I co-founded) as I had moved to New York.
I started thinking about reskilling and returning to school and soon I picked up Art Therapy as a new ball to juggle. I also realized these balls grew like crystals, they solidified based on the energy I put into them. They started growing in significance. For example, in my art section, from one small art exhibition in the lobby of my apartment in Hong Kong, I have grown in confidence and stature as an artist with many more exhibitions under my belt, and in more prestigious locations. On the health aspect, my spine injury caused significant changes in the trajectory of my running (half) marathons and I had to continue maintaining my health by focusing more on everyday yoga and walking. So, I continue as a juggler with the focus and presence needed to handle the balls in my hand, in the here and now., without being overly sentimental about my losses in the past and torn with the anxiety of the unknown in the future. I juggle on.
The Juggler series is a reflection of my life’s journey—a continuous act of balancing, evolving, and transforming through life’s shifting landscapes.
On another note, I would like to highly recommend Deepak Jayaraman, another ‘juggler’, arguably India’s leading coach and podcaster of today’s times. I am so excited to share his latest book ‘Play to Potential’ where he discusses how you can ‘Juggle’ the many aspects of your life to reach your peak potential. Below is a link to a full conversation between Deepak and me. I am honored that Deepak has profiled my journey as an example of the ‘flavor- ful’ model he introduces to help each person progress through different life’s challenges.
Link to Deepak’s interview with me:
Flavour-ful Lives by Deepak Jayaraman
Link to Deepak’s thoughts on his book “Play to Potential”