Thanks to Mastercard Small Business services for interviewing me and posting this podcast on top hiring mistakes that many entrepreneurs make. So if you’re growing your business and thinking about hiring folks, listen to this podcast first!

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.