A lot of the discussion about whether women really can have it all has centred on whether they can balance a successful career with a successful relationship. But many women will at one time have to do another balancing act: overcoming the business impact of a divorce.
How do you cope the business impact of a divorce and bounce back better than ever? There are a lot of different ways you can deal with this difficult stage, and we asked a range of divorced and successful businesswomen for their tips not only for surviving, but thriving.
- Take the time to heal.
This tip came from a number of women and it is a pretty straightforward one at that. Divorce is a major change one goes through and you need to allow yourself an appropriate amount of time to grieve. Don’t wallow in self-pity, but don’t act like nothing is wrong either.
- Own up to your own mistakes.
This bit of advice comes from Jennifer Burrows who proceeded to completely start over from scratch. She states that when it comes to divorce no one is ever completely innocent and in order for you to succeed later on in anything you do, you need to understand what you have done wrong in the past.
- Get financial planning help.
According to Libby Fordham, [tweet_quote hashtags=”#divorce” ]after a divorce it is a major priority to find someone to help you with your finances[/tweet_quote]. You will need to reassess your finances and cash flow because the fact of the matter is, you are back to being on your own and don’t have the safety net of your partners finances as well as your own.
- Update your skills.
Jennifer also stated that it is important to re-evaluate your skills after a divorce because chances are when you were married, you didn’t focus on updating them too much. Perhaps you could even go back to school for a time and update your education history as well.
- Be sure to discuss flexibility with new employers.
This piece of advice comes from lawyer Jacqueline Wharton and creator of Separation and Divorce Advisors. She states that if you have children from your marriage you need to be sure that you always have time for them, because divorce isn’t just a transitional time for you but your children as well.
- Have faith in yourself.
This is one of the biggest tips you could be given and is shared by both Libby Fordham and Julie Rainbow. Self-confidence is important for all businesswomen not just those trying to make a comeback after a divorce. If you don’t have faith in yourself, then how are your clients supposed to?
Of course, these aren’t the only things you should do in order to succeed after a divorce. But they are the broad foundation on which you can keep building success while you rebuild a new direction in your personal life.
The most important thing is that you go back into the business world as confident as ever, and don’t let your divorce dictate who you will be in business.
