Don’t laugh, but I’ve decided to teach myself how to juggle. For those of you women entrepreneurs like me, especially you moms, we already know how to juggle our lives, or at least we’re trying. Every day it seems like there is more than one ball that needs to be kept in the air between work responsibilities, home, kids, spouse, etc. But what I’m talking about here is the physical act of juggling. Yes, I went out and bought a set of three small bean-bag balls to learn how to juggle and in all honesty, it has turned out to be harder than I thought. So you’re probably asking yourself - why in the world would you want to do that? It is simple: I feel like I need to learn something new that is physical. I believe that by expanding my physical capabilities I will also augment my mental and emotional capabilities at the same time.

Think about it: when is the last time you really challenged yourself physically? As entrepreneurs, we feel challenged mentally and emotionally every day, but the physical stuff…not so much so. Sure, I exercise and maybe try to do one more set of repetitions with my weights, but that’s not the same thing. I am talking about doing something that you’ve never done before. Something you’ve always wanted to do.

One thing that I’ve noticed in my attempts to juggle thus far is that I am failing…A LOT. I drop more balls than I catch but find the failure good for me. It’s humbling. It’s FREEING. I don’t HAVE to be good at everything I do. By trying something new, I’ve given myself permission to be a student again. To learn. To practice. To grow. I’ve given up the notion that this new skill is something I can acquire in a weekend. It’s going to take longer and it’s going to take a lot of practice. That’s a good lesson to embrace, because every new thing we do in life generally takes practice. It takes time. And most of the time, it’s uncomfortable. I mean - my kids LAUGH at me (lovingly, of course). But they’re no better at it.

In talking with mom entrepreneurs, I realized that by definition of what we do we are all jugglers. I don’t think it is limited to parents, either, because I know many folks without kids who happen to have lives outside of the companies their building or running. Really - it’s possible! So one of my other goals in taking on this new challenge is that when I give a speech to busy people and talk about balance, I want to be able to stand on the stage and juggle. In front of everyone. Crazy? Perhaps. But I’m doing it anyways! Ok, you can go ahead and laugh.

So when is the last time you physically tried something new? Did you find that you grew in other ways? What did you learn about yourself??

After staying up to catch the riveting end of last night’s Super Bowl, I heard a great quote on the news that made me think about business.

It was Perfection versus Persistence and Persistence won.

Now think about that in terms of your business or even your life. Many entrepreneurs who struggle do so because they have a hard time getting rid of their perfectionist tendencies. I find this especially true for women entrepreneurs, though the need to be perfect is not relegated to the female gender. Certainly, I know many men like that too, but the thing that kills women is that if we have that tendency, we have it in all parts of our lives. So not only does everything need to be perfect in our businesses or at work, but it creeps into our home and applies to our kids, too. From my experience, trying to maintain perfectionism in every aspect of your life, especially when there are many facets to it, is a sure road to an early grave which is accelerated if you have children.

In growing a business, you can not expect everything to be perfect. You have to prioritize and then be willing to let some things go. This goes double at home if you’re raising children while trying to grow a business or pursue a fast-track career. So what if your daughter’s shirt is wrinkled!? In my house, my kids are responsible for putting away their laundry so if their clothes are wrinkled, that’s not my problem. In business, most of my file folders have hand-written labels on them. To some people, that may feel sloppy but even though I have the labels I can print out on my computer, I rarely take the time to do it. It just isn’t important. There are things that need to be perfect or close to it, but it can’t be everything.

What is more important than being perfect in every aspect of business is being persistent. It is in keeping forward momentum when an obstacle is thrown in your path. It is looking for “How Can We?” rather than just saying “We Can’t.” What do you do to keep moving forward? Where does your ‘boot in the butt’ come from?

Persistence won the Super Bowl for the Giants (along with some great efforts by the team!). It can be the fuel of success for your business, too.

Check out my Guest Blog on the Washington Post website. It is about a teaching opportunity I had with my daughter and her homework. Leslie Morgan Steiner, who writes the column/blog every day and is the Author of Mommy Wars, opens up some great topics for discussion…and there is ALWAYS a discussion!

This morning on my way to the airport returning home from an entrepreneurship conference in San Antonio (ACTiVATE won the top national award for “Specialty Entrepreneurship Education Programs”) we had an engaging conversation with our cab driver. He was asking about the conference we attended and when we mentioned entrepreneurship, we found that he had quite a lot to say around that topic. Apparently, he has had quite a history with entrepreneurship and had some interesting advice based on his experiences.

He shared that he has been starting businesses since he was a teenager and that other than self-help books out there (I didn’t ask him if he’d read The ParentPreneur Edge), he had received no business training whatsoever. His take on business is that you just have to do it. He used his vending business as an example. He went out on the first day and realized he didn’t bring enough change. The next day he went out with more change but realized he didn’t bring enough napkins. And so it went. By the end of his first couple of weeks in business, he had it down. He didn’t spend a lot of time planning out how much change he needed in the beginning – he gave himself permission to try it, be wrong, and correct it the next day. Interesting idea. Sometimes in life we just have to do it. Quit procrastinating, stop making excuses, get up off your butt, and do it.

I don’t necessarily advocate approaching everything in life or business with a complete lack of planning, but there is a place for considering it. All too often, we use uncertainty as an excuse to stall when we really should be just pushing ahead. When is the last time you just went for it. What makes you afraid to move forward?

I am really hard on myself. In talking with a good friend the other day, I was complaining about something (that now I can’t even remember what it was) and she yelled at me.

“Stop! Listen to yourself! You have achieved what many people only dream about – you are the author of a great book (The ParentPreneur Edge) that is positively impacting people all over the globe. You built and sold a successful business and you have a great husband and beautiful children…what’s your problem again?”

Julie – pity party of 1, you’re table is now available. I was busted! I encourage my class and clients to celebrate success and here I was, not taking my own advice. She was right – I needed to look at the positive – but why is that so hard sometimes? Through further discussion and another glass of wine, we decided we were both founding members of “The More Club.” It wasn’t that we wanted more money or more things; it’s just that with every accomplishment we had, we continued to raise our artificially-and-personally-imposed bar for what we had to do next. Rather than celebrating our success, we were already moving on to the next hurdle we had to cross sometimes before we’d even finished with the one we were currently jumping over. Why do we do that!?

Out of that discussion, I decided to create a “Woohoo! Journal” The name comes from a tradition we do in our family called “The Family Woohoo.” Whenever we are out as a family having a good time, any one of us can call a Family Woohoo and we all put our hands up in the air and say “WOOHOO!” Just TRY frowning after doing that…it’s pretty freeing!

The idea that I am working with for the book is that it is going to be a small, blank notebook that will fit in my purse and in it I will write anything good that happens. Big or small – it doesn’t matter. I won’t write my to-do list or items I need to shop for, just accomplishments and positive things that happen in my life. Next time I’m wallowing in self pity, I’ll open the book and remind myself what a wonderful life it really is. So what do you think of our initial sketch of a logo (on the left)?

What about you – are you a member of the More Club, too? How do you celebrate your accomplishments?

We are all obsessed with technology. I admit that I, too, can get easily carried away (or, really SUCKED IN) to e-mail and the internet. Some weeks, I feel like I just can’t get away from it. But at this time of year, it is CRUCIAL that we take time to put our Blackberries down, turn off our computers, and put our cell phones on silent. We all need a break.

In a recent article that was picked up by The Wall Street Journal (WOOHOO!), I shared some tips on how to make proper use of technology while vacationing, as I hope you are all doing this holiday season. One of the most essential tips for those with families is to set up strict times for checking e-mail or working, ideally in the early morning hours, and then STICK TO IT. That way, you can get done what you feel you need to and then put it away. Leave the rest of the day to focus on yourself and your family. It is hard to do - believe me I know - with all the lists of things we could be doing to move our businesses and lives forward. But when you don’t take time away from the office, you’re missing out on not only life, but some valuable down-time away from business that can actually benefit your business in the long run.

A couple months ago, HP sent me some new photo books to try out along with a portable photo printer. As is usual with my hectic schedule, I just recently got around to trying it out and am I sorry I waited! I really could have used the photo books to create holiday gifts for my mom and grandparents, but still plan to use them for other projects and maybe birthday presents.

My 13-year-old daughter actually went to town last weekend playing with the HP Photosmart A626 printer. She created a whole photo album just for herself by adding captions and clip art right to the photos through the printer’s touch screen. Her only complaint was that she could not save the edits that she made, but once she got the hang of it she created some pretty cute memories.

As for me, you have to know: I am not into scrap booking. I tried it when my kids were young and have several pages done the old, traditional way but haven’t picked it back up in almost 10 years. I just have trouble finding the time and patience to do it. Plus, so many of my photos are digital that I have to first print them out, then cut them up and arrange them. It just felt unnatural.

The nice part of the digital photo books is that you can arrange them and print them on your computer, which works out great for those of you who are like me and don’t like to do something twice. I’ve used online services for this before but felt constrained by 1) having to upload all my photos to their website and 2) being provided a very limited set of templates. These new photo books take all of that away. They come with software to help you lay it out (or you can use any program you have!) and then you just print it on your color printer. It is very simple with great results.
As a special offer to the readers of this blog, HP, in conjunction with Blue Suit Moms, is offering a 20% discount on the photo book products, but the discount only goes through the end of this year so check them out and order yours now! In addition, I have two free photo books to give away to the first two people who post a comment on this blog - tell me why YOU want to do it yourself!

When was the last time you put your life on mute?

Today as I was driving to work, which is a 45 minute drive with no traffic, I resisted turning the radio on. Being early on a Saturday morning, there was no one I could call on the phone, so I drove in silence. What a wonderful thing.

About halfway through my trip I became aware of the creativity of the thoughts entering my head. I actually ended up resolving an issue I had been struggling with and came up with 2-3 ideas for articles. My brain was on fire. It wasn’t until I turned off the noise that I could hear it.

In the last few years before we cashed out of ACT, I didn’t realize how deprived I was of my creativity. The din of activity was constant. It wasn’t until I quieted my life that I rediscovered the my previously-dormant imagination.

As entrepreneurs, especially for those of us who are also parents, it is hard to find time to be quiet. For me, I had to take advantage of being in the car. Whatever works.

If you’re an entrepreneur, I hope you are planning to take some away from your work for the holidays. Take a look at what I had to say about that in a recent article on Smart Money Magazine’s website.

How much do we go through life surrounded by noise? When do we enjoy the silence other than when we’re sleeping? Try hitting the mute button on your life and you’ll be amazed what emerges from the depths of your mind! You’ll be glad you did…

A couple of things I wanted to share tonight…

I found Family Matters Radio on the internet and after listening to a couple of interviews by Caroline and Jacquie, I just knew I wanted to talk with these dynamic women! We had a fun conversation - check out our radio interview (scroll down to the audio portion)…

I’ve also been participating in a lot of interviews lately which have recently landed on Nielsen’s Small Business Resource Center, Entrepreneur Magazine, and even my home-town Baltimore Sun! Check out Make Your Marketing Plan Matter along with all the other great small-business resources they have there as well as Small Businesses Can Make Performance Reviews Positive Experiences. I was able to get a book mention in Entrepreneur magazine story called The Brighter Side: Transforming a Negative Experience into a Positive Business Idea (sounds like me, doesn’t it!?), but I am looking forward to seeing the quote in print (it looks small on the internet!). As the list keeps growing, keep checking on my Press page to see what’s new.

There was a lot of good stuff that didn’t make it into the articles so I am guessing I am going to have to expand on these in the future…