Is the overwhelm of raising young children holding you back from thriving in your business? What happens when a career-driven, ambitious entrepreneur falls pregnant and starts a family? Often times, she becomes a mompreneur or ‘supermom’ and sometimes both!
The same fire that was lit still burns inside her after the children come. She still strives to create, to work, to be there for all the juicy moments of childhood, to do it all.
Although he wasn’t a mom, I think Ben was onto something when he said: “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” – Benjamin Franklin
The upside of being superwoman is you get to perform minor miracles all the time. Just yesterday I launched a new product, interviewed for an online summit, booked a venue for my upcoming masterclass in London, kept my four-year-old twins from drowning each other in the bathtub, took care of a sick hubby, and dealt with a stuffed gutter before it brought the garage roof down!
The downside comes when momma is working herself to the bone, doing everything for everyone else around her, and never including herself in the picture. And it’s never enough! At the end of the day, she’ll think of all the laundry that didn’t get folded, the calls that didn’t get made, the deadlines she missed. She thinks of how she should have really read her kids a bedtime story or wishes she hadn’t shouted so much. Forget burning the midnight oil, she just wishes she could get through a movie on the couch without passing out.
If this describes your day, then here are some tips for being a mom of energetic youngsters and still kicking ass in the business world:
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Done is better than perfect
How many projects are you holding onto because they’re not perfect yet? I used to paint when I was in my 20s, gorgeous oil paintings which I’d give as gifts to my friends and family. Months or years later when I visited them, I’d ask to take the paintings away so I could work on them some more … in my eyes they were never perfect!
How many of you have written a book that has never been published because you just want to add one more thing, or find something else to edit every time you read it?
Start the practice of putting things out into the world, warts and all. The consumer world we live in rewards speed over perfection. If you pump out 20 books, your chances at success are higher than publishing one masterpiece.
You’re better than you think you are! Release those products, services, inventions and ideas to the world. Will something better come along? Sure. Will you think of ways to improve upon it? Yes. But you’ve got to start where you are and build from there.
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Ask for something greater daily
When you have disappointments, ask, “How does it get any better than this?” When you have big wins, ask, “How does it get any better than this?” If you’re constantly asking for greater, greater will show up. But remember, it never looks like you think it is going to!
Don’t judge your successes, look at what else is possible every day. If you are constantly asking for more, for greater, it will appear. Be willing to challenge yourself and out-create yourself every day.
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Throw away your to-do list
That’s right, I said it!
Ever notice that the things you want to get done always get done? And the things that sit on your to-do list become the reasons you judge yourself?
What if you threw out your to-do list and instead, every morning when you woke up you asked, “Okay, what 3-5 things require my attention or energy today? Where can I put my energy that will create the most?” Certain projects and people will pop into your head, make them a priority.
The truth is, being a mompreneur can get messy. Sick children. Unreliable babysitters. Last-minute emergencies. Let your business life as well as your family life be chaotic. Don’t try to put order where there is chaos. Use that chaos to create! Show up for your commitments, but also follow the organic nature of what occurs through the day. Things change constantly so work with the flow, not against it. Let it be easy on you. Allow others to judge you as imperfect. They will anyway! What if it didn’t matter? What if you could teach your children they don’t have to give up any part of them to be right in someone else’s eyes? And set that example for them now, simply by being you!