Forward from "When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women" Chapter 39:
Choosing to take the appropriate measures to advance our careers is a significant decision. Ultimately, the right decision for one woman may be entirely wrong for another. The choice belongs to each of us. Industry asks and expects a lot. But the demands will only change when women push through changes so no one will be expected to sacrifice family for success in business.
After spending time in the corporate world, many women choose to open their own businesses so they have more control over their time.
Opportunities routinely surface for those who are prepared. However, true opportunities need to be the right fit in terms of our personal visions and goals.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis pointed out, “If you bungle raising your children, nothing else that you do matters much.” She spoke the truth.
Here is a freelance article by Gemma Champion that illustrates how such a career transition happens:
Before my sons were born, I would have said that becoming a freelance writer was an aspiration, but far too risky for me to ever try. I wouldn’t have expected motherhood to turn me into a risk-taker where the financial security of my family is concerned.
In the event, though, it hardly felt like a risk at all. Mostly I’m just really glad to be able to spend so much more time with my boys while they’re growing up – now that my commute has reduced to the distance from kitchen to study.
Not only that, but being a mum has given me a creative and pragmatic approach that has really helped me. Some freelancers find the hardest thing about getting started to be setting their own schedule, but as a mum that’s not an issue I’ve ever had. I know that specific times of the day are mine to work, and knowing that my time is limited has actually made me more productive than I ever was in an office.
One thing that has come out of the recession is a boom in people becoming self-employed. There are many advantages: flexibility and work-life balance, as well as being able to go in directions you might never have considered before.
According to a poll commissioned by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE), women are taking advantage of this at twice the rate of men – and a lot of those women are mothers, who, like me, really value the ability to choose their own work and schedule while still being able to spend time with their children.
To begin with, it was a steep learning curve, and I’ve been lucky to have the support of my family while I’m getting started – it took me a while to get into the swing of freelance writing, and find my niche. Having said that, if you’d told me that becoming a stay at home mum would have been the best decision to inject some creativity and control into my career, I wouldn’t have believed you – and yet here I am.
I’m much happier now, I’m creatively fulfilled, and I get to be at home during the day to spend precious time with my kids. Becoming a mum undoubtedly showed me what my priorities really were, and gave me the courage to achieve them.
For information on how you too can think about such a career transition, please consider reading one or more of the following self-coaching books:
Women, Know Thyself: The most important knowledge is self-knowledge.
Everyone you meet these days is overworked and out of time.
When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition--Paperback
