Mother’s Day is coming up, and I want to celebrate all of the Moms With A Biz that come to my site! I may not be a mom, but trust me, with two nephews running around, I know how hard it is to juggle your business with your family. I have the utmost respect for those of you who are “Moms With A Biz!” I asked a few I asked a few women that I admire to share their thoughts on business and motherhood.
The first guest post is from Kelly McCausey; and let me just take the time to point out that back when I first got the notion of starting this website, Kelly really helped me out by answering lots of my questions and giving me honest feedback and advice (and I still run things by her from time to time!) I cannot thank her enough for that!
Indie Moms, Choose This Day What Is Most Important
Having been highly focused on building a home based business over the last seven years I know the challenges all working moms face when it comes to balancing the hours of the day between a personal and professional life.
If I’m really being honest, I have to admit I don’t believe there is such a thing as balance in life. Balance suggests there is a fair way to split time.
Think about it, can you really create a calendar that properly splits the hours of your day between home, children, husband, extended family, community and business and stick to it? I don’t know anyone who has. As great as it sounds to have a plan, life has a way of throwing us curveballs that make mush of those ideals.
If there’s no true balance, are we supposed to accept that we’re never going to have the time we need for our business and our families? Definitely not, while there may be no perfect plan that creates balance, we all have the ability to make daily choices that place areas of our life in priority.
In some seasons of my business life I’ve worked crazy eighteen hour days, barely making time to stop and fix my son a sandwich. With tremendous pressure on me to earn enough to cover business expenses and pay the bills at home, I felt I was making the right decision at the time.
Fortunately, that season of hard work and determination to grow my business paid off. I have since enjoyed an incredible period of time where I only put in four hour work days and spent the rest of my time enjoying time with my son and our extended family. It couldn’t have come at a better time for my son and I. We grew closer than ever before.
I have often wondered if my son felt resentful of the time and attention my business has demanded. During a recent conversation, I learned that he never did. He is proud of my effort and accomplishment. He sees how a season of hard work paid off in the long run by giving us more choices. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me feel.
Many parents work long hours to build a business and constantly push their children aside in their drive to achieve. If your kids only ever see this side of you, they’re going to get the message that business is more important than they are. But if they see that you can and will change gears when needed, they’ll grow to respect your business ambition and appreciate what it does for the family.
My son turned 18 this past year. I’m getting ready to celebrate my first Mother’s Day as mom to an adult. He’s only going to be here in my home for a few short years while he finishes college and while he doesn’t need me as much as he used to, I’m thrilled to be available to him as much as I can. I want to model more good choices about business, money and the high value of relationships.
About the Author: Kelly McCausey coaches internet based work at home moms to build successful online businesses. Find out how she can help you network and grow as a Mom Mastermind.
This is so relevant to my life right now. I’m learning how to identify exactly when I need to work, and when I need to push it aside to be with my kids and husband. It’s a hard lesson but one that will have an excellent outcome! Thanks for this post!