Imagine yourself as the CEO of a successful company, where operations run smoothly, goals are reached, and employees are happy. What traits would you have to possess in order to keep your company that way?
Strong leader, confident, persistent/doesn't give up easily, friendly/people person, works well with peers, highly respected, manages time well (or has an assistant who does! hello smart phone!), focused on what's important, know how to relax and de-stress, stay healthy, seek out opportunities for company growth as well as your own.
Well, guess what? When you became a mom, you gave yourself the opportunity to become a Mama-CEO with a company (your family) that is self-grown. Literally. Perhaps you took a step down from Co-CFO position (your previous financially contributing job), and perhaps you have a naturally qualified co-CEO as a partner already (your spouse or partner) or maybe you are still Co-COOs with your partner but now have a ton more operations to handle. Regardless, you instantly took on the most important job on this earth. So why not empower yourself to make it work as optimally as possible?
How do we empower our role as Mom? (besides learning how to master those traits above)
- The 3 basic needs: exercise, nutrition and rest... for you and your family.
- Self-discipline & Perseverance. You need this in order to do the above. It's not easy to self-discipline when you have children, work, volunteer commitments, easy access to social media, appointments to make, activities to get to, etc. It's ok to fail. Just get back up and try something different. We can't afford to give up.
- Organization. Things run smoother when you're organized, and your mind will be clearer for more important things.
- Priorities. Once you've mastered fulfilling the 3 basic needs, you need to be able to prioritize what's important and balance your day accordingly.
- Reinventing yourself with passion. Maybe you loved your job or career before becoming a mom. Check if you can continue with it or at least do a version of it and still keep your priorities in check. Or maybe you didn't love your previous job or career. Being a mom is what you've always wanted for this chapter of your life. Embrace it with passion. Now is also a good time to re-discover yourself, explore your passions, and figure out next steps towards possibly a new and improved version of yourself.. post-children. After all, your children will eventually grow up and hopefully go off to college. Then what?
- Work closely with your Co-Executive Partner, if you have one. If not, recruit one or two. This mastering can get tricky sometimes, depending on who your partner is. However, if you work closely with this person to ensure that you are all working towards the same goals for your family, then it can be done.
- Have fun and a sense of humor. Without these, our role can appear pretty doom and gloom sometimes. Figure out what's fun for you, and be able to laugh at yourself or your situation.. always.
Now get out there and embrace the Mama-CEO that you are. For all you know, this may be the ultimate training ground for that next job or career you've been longing to do after the kiddos leave the "nest" (aka your current family company).