Dealing with Mompreneur Guilt
Do these sound familiar?
“My kids want me to play with them, but I feel so overwhelmed with all of the housework I need to do.”
“My husband wants me to be more affectionate and attentive, but I feel like it’s hard to do with so many undone tasks, needs, and obligations.”
OR
“I felt being called to own a business or ministry, but fear sacrificing my family’s needs.”
“I don’t want to be selfish.”
“I need to work, but feel guilty when I’m not with family. Then I’m doubly stressed when work gets overwhelming.”
Mommy guilt and it’s even homlier twin Mompreneur guilt…rear their ugly heads again.
Juggling mommyhood can be a challenge and the mompreneur lifestyle can be tension-filled.
But it doesn’t have to be.
You can mindfully live each moment in these three simple steps. You can make it work without feeling guilty, conflicted, or neglecting yourself, your business, or your family.
It’s about doing the right things, the right way.
Guilt-free mompreneurs distinguish between community “wants” and “needs”. They break time into blocks to be fully present with either people or the task at hand.
Here’s how you “decide” about your life, instead of “slide”. The former offers clarity and peace. The latter arrives with a pile of conflicts and guilt:
Know Where You Are Going and Why You Do What You Do
- Does your family have the resources it needs?
- What is the cost of not having the funds to do what you feel is important for your kids?
- Are there legitimate needs for a more flexible schedule?
- Do you have kids that need homework supervision to do well?
- Do you have aging parents that need your attention at times that won’t fit with outside employment?
- Do you have the self-discipline and drive necessary to be profitably self-employed?
If you, your spouse, and God have already decided that the benefits of doing your mom biz is best for your family, then you need to let go and look next to the implementation stages.
Be Clear on the Plan to Get There
Once you have a sound business model, to be successful in your business you need to
- know the right things to do, and
- do those right things well.
Easier said than done! Identify weekly and daily activities to be the kind of wife and mother God wants you to be, and put them in your calendar. Then schedule the work tasks that are critical for success (to do so you must know what those are).
Don’t make assumptions about what your family needs and wants. Needs change over time and may not be what you think. Use your own observations to where they need your love and guidance. Ask everyone directly what you can do to show your love for them.
If in black and white your work and personal activities overrun your calendar, you must trim. With finite resources like time and money, you have to make the best choices possible with the facts at hand, and punt the mompreneur guilt.
Implement Well Your Plans
You may have the vision and know-how to implement your plan. But you may be very inefficient in your implementation, often due to poor or absent systems.
Being awkward in your execution causes your activities to bleed into other scheduled activities, creating stress. At this stage invest your time becoming proficient on your core tasks If you need help, get it. Cut yourself slack when you fall short on both family and work commitments when you are trying to learn new things. The quicker you ramp up your skill set, the more your life will look more like you want.
Focusing on deciding, implementing, and accepting the process of becoming a skilled mompreneur and domestic whiz allow you to push aside the guilt. (You’ll probably need to do a little additional guilt pushing, too, as you go.) You are not expected to be perfect, only to understand and implement God’s will to the best of your ability.
The Catholic Mompreneur’s Biz and Life Tip: Freeing yourself of mommy and mompreneur guilt is a byproduct of proper discernment, clarity, and implementation of God’s will in your life. If you need assistance, how to tap into God’s will for you schedule a Get It Done session with me at www.talkwithchristina.com
