HEY Unstoppable Mom… How you doin’?
- Are you happy, healthy, and satisfied with how you’re spending TIME?
- Are you able to juggle all the moving pieces of your life with ease?
If your answer is not really… you need to read this!
Running a family while working means managing every aspect of your life. For today’s mom, there is more to juggle than ever.
If you’re feeling stressed and burnt out, just wanting things to be different isn’t enough. Nor is taking one day away from it all. Nor will saying yes to one more thing. Buying time management systems won’t help you either… You need proven strategies to help you start managing yourself first so you can make the most of the time you have!
If you are more often than not, feeling overspent, over drawn and don’t ever seem to find the time for yourself… you are likely headed down a one-way track that will not stop until you rethink how you’re working and managing your time, your space, your self and your family.
If it is your need to please that drives you to say YES to far too many people, options, projects, opportunities and tasks, you are likely putting yourself last, in a long line of others whom you support.
Here are the 5 Biggest Mistakes Mompreneurs are making in their businesses…
1. Mistake = Making Other’s Priorities Your Own
If you are more often than not, feeling overspent, over drawn and don’t ever seem to find the time for yourself… you are likely headed down a one-way track that will not stop until you rethink how you’re working and managing your time, your space, your self and your family. If it is your need to please that drives you to say YES to far too many people, options, projects, opportunities and tasks, you are likely putting yourself last, in a long line of others whom you support. Remedy = The first step for you is to STOP saying YES to everyone else, and start saying YES to yourself! If you are more focused on making everyone else happy, eventually you will create resentment, overwhelm and upset… and the attitude you’ll show up with is really nothing you should be sharing with others. Saying NO serves EVERYONE in your world when you need to say no. Saying NO is the BEST thing you can do. I use the image when coaching with clients about prioritizing yourself. The common denominator for all of your issues with Time is YOU! You are the link to all the requests on your time. Therefore it is important to prioritize yourself and your needs first. If you don’t believe it, think about the last time you were ill, or had to deal with an emergency. What happened to your time then? You prioritized based on what was the MOST necessary to complete, and all other things fell away. If you are struggling with illness, it’s essential for you to create patterns around self care and health. By Saying NO, you are more able to focus on what YOU want. People-pleasing is the biggest enemy to managing your time effectively.
For you to fix the drips and drains on your time, you MUST prioritize yourself first and set healthy boundaries around your time.
2. Mistake = Doing It All Yourself
If you’re in charge of yourself (and I’m assuming that is every adult woman reading this), by repeatedly saying “I never find time for me” you’re basically admitting that you have trouble honoring yourself or valuing your time. A coach of mine uses the analogy of a water fountain. In every water fountain you see, large or small, there is a ‘water source’ that pours down – into any number of other features, such as buckets, bowls and obstacles. The water eventually lands in the bottom of the fountain, but then – OF COURSE is pulled back in to fill up the top water source. What happens when the pump stops working? When there is no longer any fresh water to feed the system? Do the other bowls, buckets and obstacles get filled? NO. Everything stops. If you are victimizing yourself, and not doing restorative actions and behaviors REGULARLY to fill yourself up, you deplete. When you are responsible for others, children, your spouse, a business, a career – what happens? Everything is starved. Therefore, the ‘victim’ routine talk – serves no one. Is it time for you to drop it? Remedy = Drop the ‘Victim/Martyr’ Role and GET HELP. This one may hit you square between the eyes, but you need to stop being a victim to your own circumstances and begin by catching yourself each time you say things like: “I never find time for me.” This is a classic Victim-mentality. If you find yourself saying it, you need to rethink the equation…. Who is in charge of what you do with your time? Someone else? or YOU? If you are an adult, the answer should be the latter. You alone are in absolute and total control of what you do with your time.
For you to stop doing it all yourself, you MUST get help and support with every task you can delegate!
3. Mistake = Indecision
Do you have trouble deciding? Do you put off decisions until you have no more time to think? Indecision is often a direct result of feeling a lack of power and control over the decisions you’re making. For you to become more powerful in your decisions, it is up to you to go deep inside your consciousness, get clear and get in touch with your core values and desires. Remedy = Figure out what you want and begin defining the lifestyle you want to live. I suggest creating a Vision Board – a visual display of your deepest desires, wants and aspirations. Choose pictures, images, sayings and ideas that inspire you into the future state of who you would like to be… Different than you are today. Your subconscious works in pictures and images – (which may be why we dream with them – but I digress!) Find some magazines and start cutting out images today – of the person you want to be. Do you have trouble deciding? Do you put off decisions until you have no more time to think? Indecision is often a direct result of feeling a lack of power and control over the decisions you’re making. For you to become more powerful in your decisions, it is up to you to go deep inside your consciousness, get clear and get in touch with your core values and desires.
For you to make better, faster decisions, you MUST get clear on what you want first.
4. Mistake = Inaction
Sometimes inaction is due to not knowing how, but if you just don’t feel like doing much, you may be in that danger zone of managing transition and/or depression. To kick yourself up a notch and get out of inaction, you must do the opposite…Remedy = Take action today – Immediately begin investing in that future by taking action NOW. Do something TODAY that moves you closer to one of the goals on the top of your list. Whether it’s that Zumba class you’ve been wanting to try, the pedicure you’ve put off, or the yoga CD you received for the holidays that you ‘just haven’t found time for’… it’s TIME TODAY to do SOMETHING that will bring you into alignment with that reality.
For you to get in action, you MUST face your fears first and do something anyway.
5. Getting Bummed Out
I believe that upset, breakdowns and difficulties are designed as navigational tools to help you determine what you don’t want. Accepting each thing that happens in your life as a guidepost along a path of figuring out what you want is the key. Instead of getting bummed out, ticked off and shut down, take a moment to breathe. Close your eyes and appreciate where you are, where you’ve been and where you are headed. One of the daily practices I’ve adopted over the past year has been my gratitude journal. Remedy = Focus on gratitude, gratefulness and appreciation. Not only does it help me to overcome negativity that I find all-pervasive in our culture and media, but has also helped me to maintain my energy, productivity and attitude. You may want to begin an appreciation journal, or if you use a paper planner, use a little spot on it to write down a few things each day that you appreciate. Gratitude is one of the best ways to shift your focus, and has the added benefit of allowing you to step off the rumination train about all that is not going right. If you are especially cynical, sarcastic or overwhelmed, my suggestion is to begin here so you can start resonating some positivity around you ASAP! Appreciating even the smallest thing in your presence is the start of generating much more positive vibrations. Start your own gratitude journal – a record of happenings and helpful hints for you to focus on your happy thoughts and wonderful blessings.
[Tweet “Are you a Mompreneur making these 5 biggest mistakes in #business?”]
For you to avoid roller coaster mom-preneurial emotions you MUST make gratitude & appreciation a daily practice.
Want a GREAT crash course in managing your time?
Consider enrolling in the 6 week course: AWAKE, Manage Your Time To Love Your Life!Click here to learn more!
[…] of the BIGGEST topics I spend time on with my mompreneur coaching clients is how to juggle all the priorities of running their businesses while being a […]