When ABC Sport last sat down with Megan Schutt in June 2019, her goal was to be the world's best bowler.
A month later she'd achieved that feat following a successful Ashes tour that propelled her from fourth on the ICC one-day international women's charts up to reclaim the top spot.
Now, three to four years down the line, Schutt's priorities have well and truly changed.
"Look, I'd still love to be number one, but that doesn't guarantee we're going to win games of cricket," Schutt said.
"I went through a little patch there where I was taking loads of wickets, we were dominating, and that was just part of it.
"Nowadays, our team is still dominating and if I'm floating in the top 10 then I'm stoked."
The 30-year-old Australian opening bowler is still well and truly in the mix — ranked fourth in the world for ODIs and fifth in T20Is.
She has ticked off some impressive milestones over the past 12 months, taking her 100th T20I wicket while on tour in Ireland and claiming her first international 5-fa in a series against Pakistan.
Schutt was part of the winning teams at the 50-over women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand last April and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August.
By November she was also experiencing success on the domestic circuit, winning a maiden Women's Big Bash title with the Adelaide Strikers and becoming the first bowler to take a 6-fa in the history of the competition.
But when all of these achievements are pointed out to Schutt, she doesn't seem that fazed. See, the goalposts have simply shifted since she became a mother in late 2021.
After going through the gruelling process of reciprocal IVF with her wife Jess, their daughter Rylee was born three months early due to pregnancy complications.
The trio spent the next 50 days in hospital as Rylee battled for survival in intensive care.
The tough transition into parenthood saw Schutt skip a home series against India to stay by her wife and baby's side. It was the first time she'd missed an Australian tour since 2014.
Even though Schutt hated missing out and couldn't stand watching the team on TV, she knows her decision to take that time out of the game and focus on her family was undoubtedly the right call.
Now, as a very happy and healthy Rylee inches towards her second birthday on August 17, Schutt is far less concerned about ticking off individual accolades.
Instead, she's choosing to channel the steadfast determination that saw her break into the Australian team in the first place and earn a reputation as one of the fiercest fast bowlers in the world into being a great mother and trying to find a better work-life balance.
"Motherhood has changed me completely. I'm definitely a softer person and probably a bit more emotionally vulnerable than I used to be," she said.
"It just changes your whole perspective on life. You have all these feelings you didn't know were possible before, and suddenly the most important thing is to protect and provide for your child, so cricket kind of takes a back seat.
"It's my job and I absolutely love it, but at the end of the day as long as my loved ones are cared for, that's my main purpose in life now, and you kind of find that every thought is consumed by them rather than cricket, which is nice.
"We can be pretty hard on ourselves as cricketers. I think we're very picky people who can tend to focus on the negatives because our game is largely full of failure, so it takes that side of cricket away and makes the negative days less negative."
Having a busy toddler to come home to after a long day in the field has grounded Schutt, giving her the ultimate distraction from the pressures of her career and a greater sense of perspective.
"Seeing Rylee after a loss makes the feeling go away, as corny as that sounds," Schutt said.
"You kind of just forget about it once you get home and mum-mode kicks in because you've got a child to take care of and you don't really have the time to over analyse everything. Then you just show up to work the next day.
"I think that's the best part of it; you don't take your feelings home with you on those harder days and it's probably why cricket is not keeping me up in the middle of the night anymore."
Beyond the changes becoming a mother has had on her life and how she sees the world, Schutt says she absolutely adores watching her wife be a mother to Rylee — a role she believes Jess was born to play.
"Jess is naturally the most nurturing person and she has wanted to be a mother since she was a kid," she said.
"She's extremely selfless, probably to her detriment sometimes, but watching her go ahead with motherhood duties is better than I ever expected. It's an amazing feeling.
"I think I'm pretty caring too, but before a baby, I don't think I showed that side of me to many people … Now it's definitely coming out a bit more."
Alluding to her decision to skip the India tour in 2021, Schutt hinted she was likely to have to make a similar choice between career and family again in the near future.
So, the big question is are more children on the cards?
"The future is always tough to talk about, you just don't know what's coming, but I think there will be more kids for us, whether it's one or two we don't know for sure yet.
"I think there will definitely be baby number two, and number three is a maybe at this stage, because if we did do number three, I would carry, so it's a special thought but it really just depends on how my cricket is going and how my body holds up.
"I'd love to play until I break for Australia, or until one of the up-and-coming players steals my spot. Then I would turn my attention to domestic cricket. But as long as I can provide for my family … that's all that matters."
Megan Schutt will take the field for the Australian women's cricket team at the upcoming T20 World Cup in South Africa.
The team is looking to secure its third-straight title after lifting the trophy at the last tournament in front of a record 86,174 people in Melbourne.
