I was fired from my job for being a mum when my daughter was one year old. It didn’t look like a blessing at the time, being fired was humiliating but it certainly turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I was given no reason or warning. Just angry vibes from the boss anytime I was called to pick my daughter up from daycare because she had the latest germ going around town and needed to be with me.
I tried so hard to fit in mum life around my job. The pressure, the expectations… the exhaustion. The stifling of an inner voice that was trying to tell me….. there is more out there for you.
I cried on the way home, scared out of my mind about how we’d manage on a single income. But, what I knew for sure was a job was not going to create the type of life I wanted to live. I wanted to feel fulfilled. I wanted to be in control of how much I earned, I wanted to be able to tend to my daughter when she needed me and I knew, that in order to make the change it was time for me to be brave and back myself. To follow my intuition. To lead by example for my daughter and show her how to chase her dreams and go after the things she wants in life.
I knew the only way to do this was by becoming my own boss and creating a business where I had full control and so I did. I didn’t know all the answers, I didn’t have all the skills. I just knew if I didn’t at least try, I would regret it. My journey into creating a business that now allows me to be my own boss and choose how I am going to spend my day wasn’t easy, or an overnight thing but the honest truth is, I have never looked back and whilst there have been ups and downs, I did go on to become my own boss, generate my own income and have all the flexibility to work how I want, when I want, not because it was easy – but simply because I never gave up and I stayed true to what I knew I wanted.
If you follow me in my Facebook group, Remarkable Business Mums which has over 16,000 members, you’ll see I regularly write about the ebb and flow of being a mum in business and share everything from how to mentally stay sane, how to grow a business that works for you and also the inner lessons I’ve gained on the search to find my true self and live with purpose. After two confronting episodes with PND, it was my business that gave me the time and space to put myself back together and I can safely say I’ve learned a thing or two about managing my expectations, running a business as a mum of four and managing my sanity to allow me to thrive instead of simply survive.
It is these experiences and the inner wisdom I gained that led me to reshape the way I work and take more of a holistic view in my business, and the way we assist other mums with starting their businesses too. Because the simple fact is, as mothers, we can not work the way most people assume when starting out in business and when people try, most end up failing and think that there is something wrong with them.
There isn’t.
It is just that the load is significantly heavy, that is, if you aren’t aware of the things you can do to make the process easier on yourself and more attainable when starting out in business because the truth is, you actually can start a business in the time you have now, while not only looking after your family, but also yourself. So don’t give up on your dream just because it doesn’t seem possible. It is. it just requires some insider expertise, resetting expectations, smart thinking and optimising. If you want it, I promise you, you really can make it work.
So to get started, let’s think about this super smartly. I am going to share with you some super easy things you can do to set yourself up properly from the very start to give yourself the best chance of creating a successful business:
Energy:
Postnatal depletion is real. Regardless of whether your littlest is one month old or ten years old. Chances are strong that there are times when you’ve felt worn down, mentally overloaded and starting a business got thrown into the too-hard basket but the problem with that is, you’re still stuck so instead of staying stuck let’s work out how to navigate that so you can move forward.
The best thing you can do for yourself is getting your blood work done to check on your vitamins and minerals. Because, if you’re trying to do it all, and for example, your iron is rock bottom then you’re making everything so much harder for yourself.
Did you also know that our central nervous system needs vitamin D in the blood to function properly? Imagine if your cup was half full or even full instead of empty, what an impact that would make on how you moved throughout the day and what extra little things on your business you could fit in. And, when you look back over a year, all those little extra things add up and you’ll be so much further along.
I also recommend having a naturopath look over these because my GP said all my bloods were normal but my naturopath picked up some things that we needed to work on. Do you know that the ‘normal’ range is based off a 70kg white male?
Bio hack:
I bet you’ve heard of mum fog? Ever put the ice cream in the pantry? The keys in the fridge? Have you ever sat on making a decision forever because you just can’t decide what to do? With the mental load of being a mum it is easy for our brains to get a little depleted from remembering all-the-things.
Did you know, it is a fact that when we are stressed out and overloaded our IQ lowers? And I don’t know about you but I need all the IQ I can get. So, hello medicinal mushrooms in my coffee every morning (no you can’t taste it) Medicinal mushrooms can assist with supporting the immune system, reducing stress, improving sleep, lessen fatigue and the part I particularly love the most, helping with thought clarity. This means when it comes to business, I can think clearer, make decisions faster and be more productive in the time I have. Everything just feels easier and more achievable.
Another thing I do that helps improve my brain is cold water therapy – Regularly I will run the end of my shower on cold for at least 60 seconds. Sure, it is cold but I feel amazing afterward with more energy and again, clearer thinking. Also, if you are freaking out at the thought of that, start with just ten seconds and build your way up. But the point of all this is to set yourself so as you venture into your business you can work more efficiently and productively which means, again, you’re going to really maximise the time you have and your results and get 6 hours worth of work done in just 3.
Optimise:
At Business Jump we are big on finding our clients’ zone of genius and leaning them into that. In short, it is about tapping into their natural abilities, strengths and personality traits and leveraging off them. A lot of our clients come to us saying they don’t know what their strengths are but I can promise you one of my children, after a few questions I will be able to flesh them out and reflect them back to you.
We all have strengths and weaknesses and when we build a business around the way we naturally flow as a human, it creates the path of least resistance. That means growing your business will feel like flowing down the river instead of swimming upstream against the current. We also look for things that feel achievable and light to you, instead of you feeling forced into doing things that go against the grain of who you are.
An example is when we strategise for introverts we take into consideration what an introvert needs to gain energy, and align them there. It may mean more solo tasks, where they can sit behind the computer and write blogs or create Instagram artwork. Whereas an extrovert for example, generally gets their energy from other people, so networking and collaborations may be factored in for them. If you want to know more about how we could help you too, pop over to this page.
Self Worth:
One of the most powerful things I have done which has made an instrumental change in my life is being aware of the way I view myself. I used to have no confidence, extreme imposter syndrome and I cared way too much about what other people thought, instead of what I thought.
Trust me, this is a daily practice but each time I do it, I get better at it. I speak to myself the same way I speak to my children. I be kind to myself, I encourage myself, accept myself and breathe in really slowly and out really slowly and repeat ‘I can do this, I can do this, I can do this’. This sends signals to your brain and changes the way it perceives things. Then the brain tells the body it can relax and the coolest thing happens then, you actually really do start to believe it, and your brain recalibrates into ways it can support you.
Have you wanted to buy a car, and then when driving you see that car everywhere? That is because you’ve become conscious of it. The car was always there tho. Now you just see it. It is the same with business. When you believe you can, your consciousness will look for ways to support that. When you believe you can find a way, when you can figure it out, when you look for solutions instead of problems it pushes you along on the journey from an entirely different perspective, which aids the success of your business.
