Mompreneur: The Modern Superhero

I see themes show up in my personal life and in my client’s journeys. Inevitably these themes translate into my work and here is one that has motivated me to write after a long summer hiatus.

A woman’s role in 2017 is full of contradictions. On one hand, women have made incredible advancements socially, economically and politically. In my opinion it truly is the best time in all of history to be alive. We have more choice, more freedom and in many parts of the world, equality.

AND we have incredible appliances like washing machines and dish washers that I personally express deep gratitude for in a way that makes my children think I am a bit odd…which I am… but that is another blog entirely.

Let’s Cut to the Chase

To borrow a line from Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. Mompreneurs and emerging entrepreneurs have taken on all sorts of new and exciting roles with massive success, yet we often don’t ask for help with the traditional ones leaving us burdened, exhausted and frustrated.

Confident Mompreneur or Imposter Superhero Quiz

Where you land on the scope of mompreneur as confidant communicative #bosslady or as an imposter super hero headed for burnout depends on how many Y or N you answer with. Go!

1. If you and your partner both work, do you split the housework 50/50? (If you have a housekeeper, then ask yourself if you split the remaining duties equally.)
2. How often does you partner make dinner? Split it in a way that makes sense for your family but never 100% by one person. (The feeling of resentment/appreciation you feel when diving into this one will be sufficient to guide you).
3. How many times a week do your self-care related activities get treated with the same importance as a work obligation?
4. Are your hobbies and interest receiving the same priority on the family schedule as your kids or partner?
5. Do you fuel your tank with the same level of care as your family?
6. Do you make time for mindfulness each day?
7. Are you running your business with confidence or do you feel your business is running you?
8. Do your children help out with age appropriate chores?
9. Do you believe in the statement, “If you want to keep your business small, keep doing everything yourself?”
10. Are running your business from that place deep within you that motivated you to take that leap out of your comfort zone to become a mompreneur in the first place?

How many No’s did you get?

It doesn’t take a genius to see that if you answered NO to any of these questions, or if you connect with the second choices, you have some heart-centred conversations to have with your support team (AKA your family for many of you reading this).

This super hero status that has befallen the modern woman leaves us exhausted. It is critical to have dreams but we can’t actualize them if we are running on fumes.

You can run a profitable business that makes a positive impact.

You know those women who go for a run at 5:30 am then partake in a meditation practice and a kale smoothie with a kombucha chaser before effortlessly emerging looking like she has twirled out of a stylists Instagram feed?

She begins her day as a dazzling empire building business woman with the Midas Touch who polishes off the afternoon preparing a nutritious and delicious meal in the evening from scratch, then does all the clean up while her husband rests after a long hard day.

As a doting mother she baths the kids or runs them to their 2 hour soccer/dance combo, before switching gears for an online module for her Masters degree, pardon me….her PhD, before slipping into something comfortable and partaking in Cosmo worthy “marital relations”.

This isn’t how any of us actually roll, but if you are honest with yourself you secretly believe some women do and that maybe you should try harder at a whole bunch of things in your life don’t you?

The truth is no one works harder than a woman and no-one works harder than a mother.

Women represent roughly 50% of the worlds population, perform nearly 2/3 of ALL working hours, receive 1/10 of the world income (ACKKKK!!!) and own less than 1% of world property (Double ACKKKK!).

Source: Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs

You officially have permission to own your awesomeness.

According to the Head of Psychology at Stanford, the best thing a man can do for his health is get married. (No real surprise there…) While the best thing a woman can do for her health is spend time with her friends.

When women support women they share form the heart and connect deeply, which is key to our health and vitality. 

An awareness of the energy you bring to a meeting, conversation or activity in your life affects the outcome dramatically.

Every woman needs to treat her happiness as her most important work..because it is.

It is time to own your true super hero status as a woman. You are already more than enough, so put your energy into the seeds you WANT to take root and grow towards the sun. Eventually they will bloom into the garden of your life. Nurture those seeds and water them with care and consistency. When you put your energy into your dreams with consistent action, it can’t not gain momentum.

#consistencyisqueen

Until next time….be fabulously YOU!

your Coach, Lisa van Reeuwyk