Mother’s guilt is a natural part of what makes up the mothering journey at the best of times. Throw in working from home as an entrepreneurial mom? Especially a mom who coaches moms? The guilt can take on a special flavour.
You love your kids. You love being a coach. A huge part of why you chose the entrepreneurial path is to be home with said beloved kids. But sometimes this unique emotion happens. You would do anything for five more minutes but the baby needs you now. You have work on the mind and your kiddo is telling you about his day at school. And you’re have one part of your brain on the retelling of the story and another part of your brain writing the follow-up email you still need to send your client.
Oi, the guilt.
Luckily for you I have three tips to help you keep the guilt at bay so you can run your coaching biz, and the rest of your life, a little bit more guilt-free.
And double lucky for you, this blog post also includes a podcast version!
Dive into the episode in the player below and then be sure to subscribe to the show on Itunes or Stitcher so you never, ever miss a single episode:
Mama Guilt Buster #1: Use that icky feeling for good.
Often in life when we are presented with something that feels less than blissful there is a gift lurking not too deep under the surface. Do some digging around and explore what that gift might be.
For instance, I am remembering the moments where I am feeling the most strong sense of – Ugh. I feel so guilty. It’s usually after I’ve dropped the kids off at school after a really panicked morning of being late.
I can still hear that sound of my voice in the high shrill, ‘Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon‘! And then for the rest of the day feeling that delicious taste of mama guilt linger on my pallet.
To contend with that aftertaste, what I like to do is just offer that moment as an opportunity to present itself a reminder that tomorrow is a new day and you will try harder.
Take in a moment to apologize if you need to, be proactive and really see it as a moment to teach a life lesson to the munchkins if need be. A few times, I have offered a really sincere apology. Usually, it’s at bed time and just reminding them, Mama loves you. I’m really sorry about losing my patience today. I’ll try better next time. For the most part, I’ve done better. Partially thanks to the guilt.
Of course, there’s going to be some slips after that, but in the moment really dig into your sincerity and use it for the power of good.
Mama Guilt Buster #2: Remember that the kids pick up on bliss.
These rug rats are super sensitive little beings are very heightened sense-wise to picking up when mama’s in her bliss zone. If you love your work soooo much like I do, that you really feel called to dive in there even when the kids happen to be home from school, just remember that the kids are picking up on that bliss vibe.
When my kids were younger and we were homeschooling with a Waldorf-based curriculum, I remember what really stuck in my mind when I was diving into this philosophy was the sensitivity of children. Not only are they modeling what they see around them, but they’re also really picking up on the essence.
One visual in my mind was when they used the example of if you are sweeping the floor. Just releasing any resentment around the task and really pouring a lot of beautiful energy.
Just thinking of some kind of mundane task you do, there’s always some kind of sweetness to it. Think about sweeping. If you could just tap into that feeling of how good it feels to be walking barefoot on freshly cleaned floors or the motion of it.
Perhaps, if it helps, humming a little song or putting on some music that you enjoy. Really try to be in the present moment and remember the kids are picking up that life lesson that being present in the task at hand, exuding joy in it and just really pumping up the gratitude.
And sometimes you might even have to spell it out for the kiddos a little bit about what exactly it is that gets you super pumped up about working from home as a coach. Try explaining it to them! It’s a great exercise to tap into your WHY and practice different ways to explain what it is you do in simple terms.
Mama guilt buster #3: Be present.
When you are down at your declared office hours and that’s what we did here at the beginning of the summer. Mom’s going to be working until noon. Just being really present at the task at hand. Then, when it’s time to switch gears over to the kiddos, now is the time to be fully present with them.
If it helps you can do a reframe to remind yourself that the clock is ticking. If I am downstairs working on what I need to do for my business to move it forward, if I bust myself totally getting distracted by the Facebook rabbit hole, I remind myself or have that visual that this time I’ve declared is taking me away from the kiddos.
Again, the gift of mothers guilt is reminding us to stay present with the task at hand and being fully there.
One trick to I use on my myself to stay fully present in whatever side of life I’m are finding myself committed to at the present moment, is to only think of work when I’m working and at no other time.
It helps with minimizing worry – something I’m super prone at – and it ups my productivity for I can take action on my bazillion and one awesome ideas I have each day to make my biz serve mamas in the world!
Want someone on your side as you work through the comfortable and uncomfortable sensations as you serve more mamas with your coaching biz? I’d love to hop on a call with you and see how we can work together to get you started on the coaching journey or refine your coaching biz into a more clear niche and messaging. This will help you make the most of your time when you’re working on your biz, find your right clients and make a profit sooner than later.
More profit – less guilt!
Book your 45 minute discovery call with me here.
