Sometimes it’s easy to become so wrapped up in running your business that you forget about everything else in your life that should be important. You might find that your role as a mom gets pushed to the background because you’re so busy at work. If you’re like me, you never wanted to be the mom rushing out the door without kissing your children goodbye, and you never wanted to have McDonald’s as your family’s staple every night. If this sounds like you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to carry on this way. Remember thattime marches on while you run your business, and you don’twant to miss a beat in your child’s life.There are some things that you can’t recreate when it comes to your children. For example, when your child is the star of the third grade play, you’ll never be able to see opening night if you miss it. You will never be able to rewind the clock when your son hits his first home run. I’m not trying to make you feel bad if you have already missed a few events in your child’s life, but think of this as a wake up call to the needs of your children and yourself as well.
Growing a successful business is one of the most fulfilling things you can do, but growing a successful, well-educated, and loving child far surpasses any monetary success you might achieve in business. You can always rebuild your business, reallocate your appointments and meetings, and find a new job, but you can’t reschedule a class play, a home run, or a lost tooth. Moments in your child’s life are literally “once-in-a-lifetime” events and regretting missing them will eat you up inside, so why miss them when you still have the opportunity to catch them?
You can run a successful business for yourself while being a mother first, but it just requires a healthy dose of priority setting. A good way to look at things is by prioritizing items and activities that are “once-in-a-lifetime” such as concerts, games, plays, graduations etc. Other activities that you may be able to lower on the priority scale are rehearsals, practices and activities of that nature which would most likely be okay if you missed a few of those.
When you are a mom, you are a mother first above all else. That means that you may have to make some hard choices, but ultimately your children always come first, and you are alwaysa mother. Don’t worry, it’s possible to run a successful business and be a mother, just be sure that you always keep your priorities clear in your head, and make it clear to your children that they always come first.
The Milk Memos: How Real Moms Learned to Mix Business with Babies-and How You Can, Too is a one-of-a-kind guide to balancing motherhood and work is based on actual journals kept by a group of IBM women during their visits to the company’s employee lactation room. It all began when IBM manager Cate Colburn-Smith sat down in the company’s employee lactation room, shed a few silent tears, and wrote the following on a paper towel: I’m a new mom and today is my first day back at work. Is anyone else using this room?
Right away women responded, and the paper towel was eventually replaced by a series of notebooks, in which women offered one another advice and support on juggling work and a newborn. Based on the original notebooks, The Milk Memos is a heartwarming, encouraging (and often hilarious!) guide to working motherhood.
Real Estate, Business and Life Coach Cheri Alguire has partnered with hundreds of Real Estate Professionals and Small Business Owners to help them become more successful in business and in life. Coach Cheri specializes in Group Coaching for Small Business Owners, Working Mothers, and Real Estate Agents and Managers.
Learn more at www.NextLevelServices.net.