Juggler or Clown? Are you too busy to be taken seriously?

Originally published in Bahrain this Week 14 September 2014

Early in my career I prided myself on my ability to competently do several tasks at once, juggling many balls and seeming doing what others found at best difficult or at worse impossible. I loved the variation this afforded me in what may have otherwise been a dull position with the Australian Government. The more I was asked, the more I did. It was like a game, a test of endurance I knew I would win at all costs. Then guess what? I realized the cost and decided it was too high; I wasn’t a juggler I was a clown.

Even though I was young, in my 20s and full of energy, weekends were just spent recovering from exhaustion to prepare myself to do it all again next week. Relationships and personal pursuits suffered, so at 28, I decided to focus…