When learning how to juggle, you are taught how to toss and catch just one ball before adding a second. You then are to master juggling two before adding a third, and so on. Everyone who can juggle though, has a limit to how many objects they can juggle at one time before everything comes crashing down.
Some things I prioritize most would be health, family, church, self-expression, and cleanliness/organization. One thing I am learning is that prioritizing all of these at once is near impossible. As the treasurer of my church, I don’t prioritize those duties every day (I could be filing among other things right now), but I do prioritize it the last few days leading up to our board meeting so that I can produce the financial report. I have family visiting from Florida this week, so I will be prioritizing family more this week. The day before they came to my house, I prioritized cleaning. I made a commitment to myself to post a blog at least once every quarter, and since the end of the quarter is here, today I will be prioritizing writing which would fall under my “self-expression” category.
Since I have especially been prioritizing my health lately, I am learning a lot about balance when it comes to those goals specifically. For example, when it comes to weight loss, if you eat too much, you’ll put on weight, but if you eat too little, you won’t have the fuel to properly exercise and your body may be hanging on to extra fat for “survival”. When it comes to working out: if you over-train, your body will start to break down but if you don’t don’t push yourself hard enough, you won’t be challenging yourself enough to make any real change or progress.
As I discussed in “Obsessions”, going all in in a particular area can be a good thing – that’s where real skill and change can happen – but we also need to get around to those other things we value or otherwise we will feel unfulfilled, or just “off”. Just like getting too much of one nutrient can have adverse effects, getting too little of one can also be detrimental.
As I mentioned, I have been prioritizing my health. In fact, I have been obsessing over working out and nutrition in particular. During the process, however, I had recently started feeling the “adverse effects” of neglecting my calling for self-expression. At this time, I don’t desire to totally switch up my main focus (health/training) but rather just to make a pit stop, fill up, then get right back to my main focus. For me, I just needed a day to write, but it could be totally different for you as we all have different priorities and passions that call to us at different times.
I read a book a few months back written by Randi Zuckerberg called “Pick Three: You Can Have It All (Just Not Every Day)”. The premise is that you can have a successful life by being “well-lopsided”. Her argument is that being balanced in all areas of your life at the same time isn’t possible, that you have to choose only three on any given day.
It’s an ideology that may be worth adopting. I am finding that giving my attention to everything worth giving my attention to will most definitely not get enough of me if I try to spread myself too thin. Ask yourself:
- “What needs my attention the most today?”
- “What needs my attention that I can put off until another day?”
- “What have I been neglecting for too long?”
It’s a juggling act, but one that is much more manageable and realistic than trying to fit in everything in a single day.
After all, aren’t the things that are worth something as cherished as our time also worth our whole attention? Probably. The point is, when we try to juggle everything in one day, it’s probably not possible to give our whole selves by being one hundred percent in the moment to any one thing. Remember to fill yourself up with all the wonderful things that are calling to you so that no area is ever neglected for too long and you are able to live a fulfilling, holistic life.