So many women entrepreneurs I know are stretched way too thin. Juggling a business, a family, a relationship, a social life and your personal interests and health often feels completely overwhelming.
Most of our mothers were part of the first generation of women who ran not only the family but also found their independence and voice in the paid workforce as well. We learned the desire to experience independence from a traditional role of managing the home front. Many of us are in a quest for finding the perfect balance between family and career, if such a thing truly exists. Yet, in the rush to become Superwomen who can “have it all,” many women entrepreneurs are exhausted.
Women entrepreneurs who want to unleash their true brilliance and leadership in the world need to hang up their Superwoman cape. Being a multi-tasking, Superhero who works 24/7 ultimately leads to burnout, poor health and failing relationships. Expending all of that energy outward doesn’t leave much room for us to receive support, resources and love which can help us achieve our goals and spread our mission in the world.
To find that balance, it’s important to stop battling issues on all fronts and carve out space for silence. Our true priorities and values will emerge when we hang up the cape and allow ourselves to simply “be” instead of constantly whittling down the “to do” list. Carving out downtime allows us to recharge our batteries. It’s in the silence we can finally hear our true voice of inner wisdom and brilliance.
![](http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/?d=<"http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/ee2cf6f21838ddd24f307bcb9609be27.png">&s=90){kind=avatar}
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Carolyn, I do agree with your article in principle. Entrepreneurial women do need to find a balance in their life. As an entrepreneur and mother of 4, I did experience the burn out you described and one could argue that it did affect my health and relationships.
However, last year, after 12 years of successful and lucrative business ownership, and finding myself envying all those hospital and insurance people with whom I dealt with and their cushy executive level jobs (all the while wondering how they got them despite their obvious lack of competency), I decided to close up shop and accept one of those positions with a national healthcare firm as a regional director of a midwest central support office. I took almost a 30% cut in pay to do so because I believed it would be worth it to just be able to leave my job at 5:00 p.m. and enjoy the evenings and weekends.
It was very much a relief at first. No more 14 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week, a little travel, new work clothes ( I previously wore sweats and Crocs in my home office), lots of interesting projects, and team interaction. I actually really enjoyed the position and the work, however, the honeymoon period was soon over and the ever slow corporate pace, the politics, the occasional lack of competency demonstrated by my peers, the lack of ethics demonstrated by others, and the lack of any power to control any of it was too much for me. I decided that I would honor my commitmment to the job for one year, then reassess and start planning my next move after that.
After 10 1/2 months, and after I completed most of my goals for the first year, the company decided to “reorganize the division” and move the support center I oversaw to another city thousands of miles away. Of course, this occurred one week before I was to receive my negotiated bonus for meeting and or exceeding all of my responsibilities and goals over the previous 10 months.
So, did I just pick the wrong company or did I make the wrong move? I’ve deeply pondered this question for the last 4 months as I submit resumes to other companies and suffer through several levels of interviews with each to no avail.
I’m leaning towards returning to my entrepreneurship, even though it means starting all over because the the moral of this story is yes, entrepreneurial mothers do work long hours, we do have to possess super human resolve, stamina, and organizational skills (thus the cape), we do exist on Diet Coke and chocolate some days, and we sometimes feel unappreciated by our families, and lastly, do experience the occasional burnout.
Yet, at the end of the day, I have found that it is definitely all worth it because we get to choose our hours, wear our sweats and Crocs, make any and all the holiday parties and sporting events, and best of all, control our own destiny! I worked very hard for those 12 years because I wanted to, was committed to doing a great job for my clients, and to earn the type of income that would help make my family comfortable, and I miss it terribly. Anyone need an experienced, ethical, proven medical parctice management and medical billing consultant or firm? Mine is back in the market and I would be most attentive and grateful for your business and would provide you with my best service!
Thanks for the thought provoking article Carolyn. And just because I don’t have my own kids, I have found myself in many states of being pulled in too many directions. With 9 nieces and nephews, 1 great nephew and the ranks of the “greats” are going to increase by 2 in a few weeks and another in early spring, keeping track of all of their activities and sending them encouraging thoughts on the web has kept the “kid” part of my life pretty full.
The one thing that I found helped a lot was to let go of the GUILT that I felt because I just could not get all of the items done on the to do list. I still have the things to do, but they will happen when they happen.
So, back to my next Christmas movie to watch to review for Movies About Christmas, and then some quiet time in the car on the way to the library awaits me. I look forward to those few moments every day.
Live and Love in JOY……S>