I never heard this until today but I think it is a really useful analogy. I think the original author was the CEO of Coca Cola. Imagine life as a game in which you’re juggling five balls in the air. These balls represent the core elements of your life: Work, Family, Health, Friends, and Spirit. Here’s the insight: Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. You can recover. You can find another job, rebuild a business, or restart a project. But the other four balls: Family, Health, Friends, and Spirit, are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, cracked, or even shattered. Some damage simply can’t be undone. The analogy cuts through the noise of hustle culture by forcing a simple question: Which balls are you treating as rubber when they’re actually glass? Many people invert the priority, they treat work like glass (terrified to drop it, sacrificing everything to keep it aloft) while treating health, relationships, and inner peace like rubber, assuming they’ll always bounce back. The reality is often the opposite. Careers are more resilient than we think; bodies, relationships, and peace of mind are more fragile. I think it’s a useful mental model, especially for some people here chasing a dream in markets. The markets will always be there tomorrow, but many of the glass balls won’t last forever.