Like most things in life, being both an entrepreneur and a parent is a delicate balancing act. It would be wonderful if the demands of business and family life could coexist harmoniously, but they collide more often than I'd like.
I used to think "success" in business meant a swanky office that would impress clients, stress-free multiyear contracts, a fat bank account and year-over-year growth. I had similar naive notions of what it meant to be a successful parent: reliable naptimes, lunch boxes packed with healthy, homemade treats, show-off-worthy report cards and always-happy kids.
But now that I've been juggling both roles for well over a decade, I've come to accept the realities of my real life, not an imagined, inaccessible existence in which I can always give 100% of myself to both my family and my PR firm. In the process, my concept of success has changed according to a new set of standards.
"Success" is a big word, laden with myriad expectations. But after much trial and error and careful consideration, I've come up with manageable and achievable goals that keep me on the road to success. See if these strategies work for you, too, in both entrepreneurship and parenthood.
First, you must identify your feelings about how your life is going — stressed? contentment? dissatisfaction? overwhelmed? confident? — and then simply accept that those are your true feelings at this time. When you allow yourself the thoughts and feelings you have instead of trying to tamp them down or deny them, you permit yourself to be a fully feeling, multifaceted human being. You validate who you are and what you're trying to accomplish, even amid all the hurdles you're facing and the flaws you inevitably possess.
This first,........