Something that keeps coming up in the Mom Entrepreneur Community that I'm sure you're no stranger to.........is the GUILT! 

You work outside of the home...you work from home...you stay at home but want to start your own business...Shame on you!

I wanted to talk to you about that special guilt, the one reserved (to some extent) to all working mothers, but especially for the mom entrepreneur.

And why is it served up especially for you?  Maybe others think you don't necessarily have to work, or at least not work SO much if it weren’t for the fact that you decided to start your own business!

How selfish of you to want to better yourself and make things better for your family; to enable them to have unique experiences and to travel, and down the road to have the means for your children to attend the college of their choice.

Not to mention being a wonderful role model of dedication, and a shining example of how to manifest dreams.

Hmmm,   Maybe you’re not so selfish after all?

NO YOU’RE NOT

But this guilt and this second guessing of your motives and your right to a passionate purpose in life seems to come up for all of us at some point.

It’s been coming up as a topic in the mastermind groups I host and it breaks my heart when I hear the worry and guilt mothers face when wanting to run their own businesses.

So, let’s talk about it. Let’s get it out in the open.

I’m betting that when you first decided to go into business for yourself, that you felt, at least for a bit,  excitement and some clarity?

But in that excitement, may have been a little bit of fear mixed in. After all, this is the unknown. You’re making changes; changes that are going to make a difference in your life. And it’s that fearful place where things can worm their way in…

Perhaps your spouse, your partner, your friends, your family, start to say things. They question you.

“What do you think you’re doing?” , “Who do you think you are?”, "Wouldn't it be easier to just stay at your 9-5?"

So you start second guessing yourself.  And one of the biggest worries is,

“I’m not spending enough time with my kids.”

Stop the entrepreneurial mom guilt with these 4 tips:

1) Quality time.

Be “intentional” with the time you spend with them.  When you’re with your kids, you’re with your kids!  You’re nowhere else. 

Being mindful and being present can be hard. It’s something I've been practicing.

And it makes such a difference!

Turn off all of your cell phone notifications, so when you're with your family you are not tempted to go look at every bing and ding...or better yet, put the cell phone in another room if you can.

Say a quick mantra to get your head back in the game (and not thinking about the hundreds of business activities you need to do) 

Saying something to myself such as "I'm fully present with my children right now...they are only young for so long....I have more than enough time to handle my business activities at a later time", etc.

I got even more in the moment with my kids while we were playing and interacting. 

It will make a big difference in the fulfillment you and your family feel when you're truly present.
                     

2) Go Back to the WHY

And now, to further assuage that guilt, let’s go back and take a look at the reasons you wanted to start your business in the first place.

Is it ultimately to be able to spend more time with your family?   Is it to create the financial freedom to give your family the kind of lifestyle that would benefit you all?  

Is there a burning passion within you that you cannot keep quiet any longer?  Think about what you’re going for.

Whatever the reasons you have for embarking on this entrepreneurial journey, I want you to remember the words in this wonderful quote (said by Courtney Clem, Christen Spratt, and numerous others!)

"Make your children the REASON you're doing something, rather than the excuse for not doing something"

Don't make them be the reason that you're holding back and not living your dreams, because you living your dreams is showing them what’s possible for them as well!

3) Schedule it all in 

Schedule in your child time, your family time (don't forget those date nights with your partner too!) and your business time vs it just being a mash-up. 

We've seen how QUALITY time with your children can make such a difference, well so can QUALITY time with your business.

When you're able to work solely on your business (even if it's just a 1 hour sprint), you are much more focused and work more efficiently (#savingtime!)

Be even more efficient with your time, by having set time blocks for certain activities. 

Try answering emails only 30 minutes a day (or 15 min. in the morning and 15min. in the evening) vs. checking throughout the day.

Do all of your social media scheduling one day a week and so forth.

4) Include Them

When you have a time crunch and need to work on your business while the kids are with you, depending on their age, try to include them in your projects.

My toddlers are too young to actually work in the business, but when I've had to do something that needed to get done, I have set them up with a "business" project right next to mommy. I've given them a pack of envelopes and stickers and asked them to put a sticker on each envelope and then color each one etc. So they can do their "work" while mommy does some as well. 

It buys me about 30 minutes of time to take care of some tasks and they feel very important in the whole process as well. 

If you're still feeling fear about being a mama entrepreneur,

 What do you think the underlying feeling/fear is when you “peel back the onion?”

Share with us in the private Facebook group MakeItHappenTribe, where there are other dynamic women entrepreneurs who want to have it all~~~ a successful business and thriving family life.