We wrote Rebalance: How Women Lead, Parent, Partner, and Thrive in the depths of the pandemic, at a time of massive change and deep reflection. We wanted to explore what it takes to thrive full-circle in all aspects of our lives: as purpose-driven leaders, parents, partners, and citizens. In Rebalance, we draw on a decade of no-holds barred, often hilarious conversations with an ambitious group of women we call “Thrive.” In our Thrive group that’s been meeting on the first Friday of the month for over a decade, we each strive to lead in social impact jobs, raise good kids, be healthy, and build strong relationships. Rebalance reflects the wisdom of our crowd as we seek to answer the perennial question of working moms (and dads) everywhere: “Is it possible to do it all well, or does something have to give?”

Rebalance takes an unflinching look at the trade-offs, conflicts, and juggling acts inherent in our busy lives and illuminates what it takes not just to survive, but to thrive. We share hard-earned lessons on balancing—and constantly rebalancing—amid an onslaught of ever-changing demands and priorities. A favorite tool we use to visualize our constantly evolving lives is the “wheel,” which we illustrate in the book. The wheel is a circle that anyone can draw where the slices represent the most important parts of life at that moment. Each slice gets shaded from the center out to indicate how close we are to reaching our own goals, represented by the outer edge of the circle. The wheel is an ever-changing roadmap of what requires attention now. More importantly, it can suggest when to pull back, set clearer boundaries, or settle for imperfection.

Rebalance, like our wheel, is organized around work, family, health, and community. While we all work in social impact careers, there is still so much to be done in our communities to create the world we want our children to inherit. “Being the Change We Want to See” looks at how we can go beyond our “day jobs” and collaborate to be part of the solutions to the deepening challenges we see. By being authentic role models and catalysts, and by leveraging our networks and experience, we can influence and help improve things. If we reflect on our tendencies to perform, perfect, and please—and re-examine how and where our efforts are spent—we can be smarter about how we show up and thrive at work, at home, and in our communities.

Read the full article about balancing work and home life by Monica Brand Engel, Lisa Neuberger Fernandez, and Wendy Jagerson Teleki at Stanford Social Innovation Review.