Weekly Snapshot: Juggling & Managing Risk

Hi friends!

I have always believed I can juggle things well in life. But it’s hard because as you progress on each project, juggling multiple of them gets even more difficult. I experienced it, but I never found an analogy to explain it. 

Well, this week, I had an interesting conversation with a colleague managing multiple things. Here is how he explained it:

Working on multiple things during the early phases is easy because the complexity levels are low. As you get into the nitty-gritty, instead of juggling three tennis balls, you end up juggling a tennis ball, a basketball, and a tree - all with different weights. Practically speaking, it is impossible. And speaking from the system-design point of view, you are destined to make a mistake.

This analogy encompasses everything I’ve felt about working on multiple things. I even found a solid argument for why juggling isn’t one of life’s best practices. 

I found his example so enlightening that identifying the complexity of each task and which task is a basketball vs. a tennis ball has improved my risk management acumen and skills. 

Here's my two cents on juggling: carefully think before you decide to multitask or work on multiple projects. Ideally, don't, but if you have no choice, identify contingencies beforehand and manage your risk. 

Tread carefully. 

💪 Wins of the week

1. I’m getting to work on very important things at work. It’s giving me purpose and pushing me to work harder.
2. I love when I’m able to exercise constraint in tricky and delicate situations - logical thinking over emotional response.
3. Just three cigarettes - am I slipping or is it just a phase? (I don’t feel it’s a win)
4. I published my article and YouTube video (watch the video at the end of this newsletter)

🧐 Challenges & Learnings

1. How much time should you actually allocate to a specific task or a project? I’m trying to time things right but it’s difficult.
2. Life is all about risk management: contigency planning, strategic initiatives to protect your business stake etc. This week, I learned how to frame situations from a risk perspective and identify loopholes that might negatively impact your initiatives. Better be prepared.

🎯 Goals for Next Week

Next week is all about increasing income and networking:

1. Work on building another income stream: bringing in another $3,000 per month.
2. Interview 10 purchasing managers to understand buying process of manufacturing firms in the MENA region
3. Publish 1 article and 1 YouTube video.
4. Eat well and take care of my mental health.
5. Gym: 4 days.

📖 My Readings

Just a few chapters left for Influence by Robert B Cialdini. Next up is Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb!

🎬 My Latest Video

Are you just busy or actually getting work done? Action vs. Motion: In this week’s video, I dive into the notion of action vs. motion. We all love making plans and researching ideas for our next business but very few of us actually make it till the end. What stops us? What puts us in the state of procrastination? Watch this video and find out.

✍️ Quote of the Week

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
— Anaïs Nin

Till next time.

Raheel Ahmad