Top 10 Tips for Mastering the Juggling Act of Life

Hey there!  Jen Slaw here, with my top 10 favorite lessons learned from juggling that I hope will give you some inspiration for finding balance in your own life.

Lesson #1: “Where you start is not where you’ll end up.”

Take a moment and really let this sink in.  We all face challenges every day and sometimes they can feel overwhelming.  Athlete Roger Crawford said, “Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”

When I started juggling, I could only do one ball.  Now, I can juggle 5.  But I’ve been juggling for over 20 years!

Now, I’m not saying it’s going to take you 20 years to conquer your challenge or solve your problem, but give yourself a break!  Be patient with yourself and give yourself permission to be less than perfect at the beginning.  Learning or solving anything is a process that takes patience, practice and perseverance.

Your first attempt, your first idea, your first solution, probably won’t be the best.  That’s OK!  Stick with it, learn from each step of the way, and enjoy the process!  When you can accept and internalize this, frustration goes away, and you gain the ability to focus and be productive.

Lesson #2: “Friends are good. Ask for help!”

We can accomplish more when we work together effectively.  A friend, a team, a mentor can be a great strategy for achieving a goal.

It can be difficult to ask for help, but check this out…

With one hand I can juggle 2, but with 2 hands, I automatically double my ability and am able to juggle 4.  Think of how much more you could get done if you had a little help!

In an effective partnership or collaboration, team members learn to utilize the unique strengths and learning styles of each player.  Individuals empower each other through a mutual respect and trust that builds from open and honest communication.

Think of some people who might challenge and support you, and think of some people you could challenge and support.  Then reach out and start building your support team!

Lesson #3: “Break it down. One step at a time.”

We talked about the fact that learning anything is a process that takes time.  Don’t try to do it all at once!

Define your big goals.  It’s great to set goals, but they will be meaningless unless a step by step plan of action is put in place to achieve them.

What’s important is to START to take action, and it’s much less overwhelming to start with a small, achievable step.  Then work your way through the skill building process, remembering to be patient with yourself!

Jugglers build skills slowly and consistently from 1-2-3 balls…and more.  AND – If you look closely, even though I’m juggling 3 balls, there is really just ball one in the air at a time.

So, take a deep breath, and learn to focus on one thing at a time, even though there is a lot going on.

Lesson #4: “Find and strengthen connections.”

Author William Plomer said “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.” 

We talked about the importance of connecting with others for mutual support.  Now I’d like to talk about how all of the pieces (or balls) of your life are connected.  How do the pieces fit together?

You can see when I juggle, that each ball is connected to the other, and the timing of each throw affects the next.  If I throw one ball particularly high, I need to wait longer to throw the next ball.  Otherwise, I’ll have too many balls in the air at once!

So, identify the pieces of your life and how each part affects the other.  Family – Work – Health – Social – how can you strengthen connections between these different pieces?

There are endless ways and patterns to connect the aspects of your life, so let your creativity run wild!

Lesson #5: “Balance is not static. Learn to be flexible.”

Balance is fluid and requires constant adjustments.

As you can see when I balance this peacock feather, it’s important to know where to focus, and then be flexible and allow for movement to adapt to changing circumstances.  If I lose focus, I lose the balance.

There is no magic answer and there will be a unique formula for each of you to find that dynamic balance in your own lives.

Balance requires flexibility, being open to change, patience, and consistent practice.  As we’ve talked about, this takes time and work.

Oprah Winfrey said “You can have it all.  You just can’t have it all at once.”

Different days will require different compromises.  But with flexibility, creative problem solving and support from our collaborators, we can work towards finding that dynamic balance.

Lesson #6: “Find your passion.  Just Dance!”

Sometimes you need to take time JUST for YOU, to be in the moment and focus on nothing else.

Dance and let loose, sing at the top of your lungs, go for a run, a swim…JUGGLE!  Exerting yourself physically will help maintain your health and your sanity.

This is about finding that happy place where you can focus what you are passionate about and tap into your own inner creativity.  What makes you feel most fulfilled, most at peace?

It’s so important to have a little YOU time to reduce stress and feel refreshed and ready to face life’s challenges with renewed energy.

So have fun and don’t forget to send me a video of your crazy dance!

Lesson #7: “Creative thinking takes practice.”

Ask yourself why do you do something a certain way?  And “It’s always been done that way” is not the correct answer!

Define the goal and know that you may need to reprogram.

When people start juggling 2 balls, they often exchange the balls in a small circle.  Now, it would be extremely difficult to juggle 3 balls in this pattern for a beginner juggler.

The three ball crossing pattern is a lot easier.  It’s more symmetrical, at a slower pace, and easier to maintain.  But to learn this pattern, the student needs to switch from making the circular exchange to making an X.  And this is often a very difficult cycle to break, requiring use of the less dominant hand to reprogram the body.

Don’t make something more difficult than it needs to be!

A couple tips for cultivating your creative habit: observe everything, because there are possibilities everywhere, and inspiration anywhere.  Be open to taking risks.  And practice consistently.

And if you feel yourself getting stuck, here’s a 3 Step Mental Block Quick Fix:

1.  Question assumptions.  Ask yourself “What if?” You may have never considered the alternatives.

2.  Go somewhere new.  Get up, take a walk, go look out the window.  Moving your body can free up your mind and you never know where inspiration will come from.

3.  Interact with someone new.  Ask someone else their opinion.  They may have a totally different insight or perspective that might spark something in you.

Lesson #8: “Done is better than perfect.”

I think this lesson is so important that I have this giant poster hanging on my office wall as a reminder!

We’ve talked about the importance of cultivating your creativity and looking at different possibilities and solutions.  But it’s also important to know when to move on.  Does “perfect” really exist?  And who says what perfect is?

It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of perfectionism and get stuck working on something that really isn’t advancing our goals…and not moving on to other important tasks.

Sometimes there are fears hidden behind our perfectionism.  What will someone else will think; will we fail; will we succeed?

So reflect on this for yourself, and then prioritize which tasks are really important for the accomplishment of your goals, and focus on those first.  And get stuff done!

If I waited until each juggling trick was perfectly executed 100% of the time to perform it, I would never perform, which is sad, considering how much joy I’ve been able to share with audiences, through less than “perfect” performances.

I’m not saying to not strive for greatness, but be honest with yourself, and know when to move on.

Done is better than Perfect!

Lesson #9: “Learn from the drops.”

TRY something! You may drop it. Pick it up and do it again!

Assess WHY it didn’t work and what you can do differently for a different outcome.

I love this Michael Jordan quote: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”

Many jugglers curse gravity when they drop.  But it’s important to note that without gravity, juggling would be impossible, since the balls would never return to our hands!  Sometimes the “problem” can also be the “solution”.

An “obstacle” or “mistake” can force you to come up with a creative solution to a problem that you never considered.

Jugglers know that you can’t learn to juggle or learn a new trick WITHOUT dropping!  We EXPECT to do it and know that it’s part of the PROCESS and we know that each time we pick it up and try again we are making progress.  By looking at how and why we dropped it, we can learn something for the next attempt.

So happy dropping! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Give it a try. You’re making progress!

Lesson #10: “The possibilities are endless.”

In juggling, and in life, there are always new patterns, directions, ideas and solutions to explore!

The possibilities truly are endless with practice, patience, perseverance, and the power of positive thinking.  And it’s important to not only have a positive outlook when facing your own challenges, but to share that positive energy with the world by giving back, volunteering, doing good for others.

It will come back to you.

Think something’s impossible?  Round and square objects don’t fit together?  WHY NOT?!

Share your creativity and positivity with the world and you will find that …EVERY DAY IS FULL OF POSSIBILITY!