Stay at home? Old Career? New Career? Own business? Work from home or go to work? Full time or part time? Can I afford to work? Can I afford not to work?
Child Care? School run? Running the house? Guilt for staying at home! Guilt for going to work! What about ME?!?
Before you had your baby lots of questions will have jumped in your head about leaving your job, now the time is approaching to go back to work, what questions are you asking yourself?
Everyone’s experience of maternity leave is different, some never want it to end, whilst others crave the return to work. Each of these thoughts comes with its own challenges so how are you going to decide what is best for you and your family? Returning to work after maternity leave happens for many reasons some financial, some social & some for sanity!!! But it may not look the same as it did before you had your child! There is now at least one other person in your life to consider before you make any decisions.
A lot of parents are conflicted between staying at home and earning money for this reason starting your own business might be what you want to do, if this is the case what should you consider?
I went back to work just 2 weeks after I had my little boy but I was in the lucky position that I had an established business and a team around me so that I had the support to take breaks to breast feed my son and work part time.
When starting a business from scratch with a small baby the stress can be overwhelming before the rewards appear. The main aspect to consider when starting a new business is SUPPORT.
As women there is incredible pressure to be strong, to juggle our careers, family and life commitments whilst keeping our cool without complaint and the guilt if we can’t achieve this for a lot of women is incredible.
Your support network is therefore the key part to striking out on your own and building your own success!
What does the right support look like?
Starting your own business is a roller coaster. I love being my own boss and choosing my own hours but it is not without its stress. I have staff to look after which is a huge responsibility, plus I am constantly working on how to develop & grow my businesses to get the best out of them. As a life, career & business coach I still rely heavily on my family and friends plus I have my own coach to ensure that my decisions are not all based on my likes & dislikes but those of my customers. I use my coach as a sounding board as she is impartial and therefore enables me to make my own decisions with clear focus.
Moving on to any new chapter in your life is exciting, frightening, stressful, exhilarating and exhausting all at once and when you have a new family the pressure for success is greater.
When making life decisions make sure that you are doing it for all the right reasons and that you feel comfortable with your choices. Make an old fashioned pros and cons list and answer all the questions in your head on paper so you can see clearly why you are walking down your path.
It does not matter which path you choose employed, self-employed or stay at home mum as long as you are happy and fulfilled with your choice.
If you would like any help with a life career or business choice then please contact my coaching company and we will support you into your next chapter whatever that may hold. For mumblers we are currently offering 50 hours FREE life, career or business coaching. Plus look out for our workshops on career & financial planning for the future. Contact us on info@lovetolivelife.co.uk – Follow us on Facebook love to live life York
