Jugaad: The Art of Getting What You Want—Resourcefully

THE ESSAY

Jugaad is a Hindi noun that means "ensuring things happen even with minimal resources, even if it's by hook or by crook." 

Ella Frances Sanders's book, Lost in Translation, introduced me to the concept. Sanders describes jugaad as "solving everyday problems with a combination of frugal innovations and local intelligence, perhaps even bending the rules slightly."

When deciding on a business name, I was drawn to the word resourced because it means "having all the things you need, such as money and materials, to function properly." 

"Getting resourced" so you can do your best work in the world was a common refrain of my mentor, Jody England. It's also the first thing I want to ensure for my creator clients—that they have the tangible and immaterial resources to sustain themselves, their projects, their family or loved ones, and their overall well-being.

However, what I love about jugaad is that it reminds me we can be resourced not only by acquiring what we want and need, such as money, materials, and support, but also by being resourceful with what we already have in our possession. 

Like most people born in a consumerist culture, I spend a lot of time coveting things I don't have and mindlessly scrolling through things I shouldn't buy. Sometimes when my desire for more overwhelms me, I stop and relish what I already have instead of focusing on what I lack. 

Suddenly, I'm spoiled with riches. I become astonished by the abundance surrounding me: temperature-controlled air, two choices of coffee, a good book loaned by a friend, or a colorful dress sitting in my packed closet—still unworn. The truth is we are steeped in treasures and resources to an almost grotesque degree.

As a passionate naturalist, I recognize that using and savoring what I already have will lead to less environmental waste. I believe that, as humans, we create so much waste because we have a hard time actually enjoying the things we have and allowing ourselves fulfillment from them. Instead, as soon as we get something, we quickly desensitize and rush to procure the next exciting thing. 

For example, sometimes I'm having a delicious lunch, but my mind is thinking about what I'll make for dinner. I never stopped to enjoy the meal I’m in the midst of eating, and I'm already in pursuit of more. 

For me, recognizing what you have is the first step. Jugaad is the next.

I want to challenge myself to fix what's broken, value what's in front of me, make things last a little longer, and find clever ways to get what I want and need with "frugal innovation" rather than excess acquisitions.

Instead of desperately seeking the kind of work and life I dream of, I want to use what I already have to weave together the tapestry of a meaningful existence—one that contributes and adds to our ecosystem rather than exploits it.

THE EXERCISE

A downloadable audio version of this exercise is available below.

1. Spend some time noticing the beautiful things you have in life: material items, support systems, or the magical places you walk by each day.

Don’t discount or take for granted the simplest things. Maybe it’s the surplus of food in your fridge, a rogue compliment, a pair of shoes that make you feel fantastic, a loving social connection, or how the light pours through your bedroom window first thing in the morning. When you make a genuine effort to notice your abundance, the experience is expansive.

2. Now, let yourself be affected by the sheer abundance that surrounds you—don't just recognize it with your mind; feel it with your body.

Let the feeling hit your center, your limbs, your heart. How do abundance and resources actually feel to you? It might be wonderful, or it might induce anxiety. Sometimes both. Aware, open-hearted receiving as a physical practice can be deeply uncomfortable. Developing a true understanding of all you have can be overwhelming.

When I do this exercise, sometimes I feel guilty for having so much. Other times I’m flooded with gratitude but then become immediately fearful that I’ll lose everything one day. In fact, sometimes I think I only have these things so they’ll be taken away because I’m unworthy of them, or deserve to be punshed. Sometimes I’m visited by a profound sense of calm and security—I’m going to be ok.

My response shifts every time I sit with what I already have.

Let yourself experience whatever feelings arise. Don’t judge them as good or bad. Discomfort and undesirable emotions are valuable teachers if you can withstand sitting with them for even a moment. Equally, sometimes joy and gratitude can be painful to sit with if we’re not used to allowing ourselves those emotions.

Notice how those feelings course through not only your brain and also your body. Are you fidgeting? Tingling and warm? Is there a pit in your stomach? Is your heart soaring? Has your breathing deepened or shortened?

See how long you can make it last if it's a pleasant sensation. If it’s an uncomfortable sensation, see if you can shift it to something more pleasurable while still focusing on your abundance and resources. In other words, shift the physical experience to one of comfort instead of allowing your mind to think of something more comfortable.

3. In what aspect of your life would you like to use jugaad?

Now that you’ve developed a more intimate appreciation for all that you have allow yourself to return to something you want. Maybe it’s a material object, a change in job status, or recognition for an achievement.

Do you need it as much now? If the desire has lessened, why might that be?

If you still feel the gravitational pull of that desire, how can you go about wanting, asking, pursuing, and receiving it more cleverly and consciously? How can you use what you already have to get what you want? If that thing has felt out of reach, do you really need as much money, time, or hard work as you think to get it, or can you come by it more ingeniously?

Maybe the answer won’t present itself immediately, but it’s a question you can mull over in your subconscious. The answer might come to you at the most unexpected moment. (And usually at just the right time.)

4. When have you used jugaad in the past? 

It’s always nice to recognize when we’ve already used a cool technique. I like to remind people they already know how to do these things, and the art is to become more mindful of when and how they use these techniques. In this way, conscious choices become habits instead of happenstance.

Surely we’ve all employed MacGyver-like resourcefulness to accomplish a goal or create something we wanted. When, in the past, have you used jugaad? Take a moment to consider it, then celebrate it.

❧

Recently, I spent a year planting six trees on my family property in Michigan, which had lost a number of old-growth trees since I was born. However, at $250 for a two-year-old tree, it was becoming prohibitive to plant more.

But then, while pulling weeds, my sister discovered a number of tiny saplings sprouted from the walnut seeds that drop daily on our property. Knowing my love of planting, she brought them to me as a gift. Inspired, my husband realized we could husk the endless supply of walnut seeds that fell in our yard and plant them from scratch. That’s when I realized that walnut trees do well in Michigan, to the point where hearty saplings grow wild in roadside ditches.

Initially, I was crestfallen that I couldn’t plant an already vibrant tree. I was desperate to “catch up” on the decades we lost when we should have been planting. But then I realized I was being encouraged by the universe, and my loved ones, to experience something greater. I had seen so many towering oaks and maples fall. Now I was being invited to witness the birth of a tree from a fragile shoot.

In this instance, jugaad was not just a hack. It was a gift.