Today, in the latest podcast episode, I am talking with you about making the heart-guided decision to be empowered to make the work-life balance choices that are right for you. When I opened my law firm in January of 2017, my oldest son had just turned four years old, and my baby was 10 months old. During the entirety of 2017, I was in a constant state of hustle. Not only was I continuing to be an advocate and counsellor for my clients, but I was also figuring out what needed to be done to run a business. I was working seven days a week and I was doing far less than half of the care for our children.

I remember that one Sunday morning, I had just arrived at my office, and when I tried to start working, I collapsed on the floor. My exhaustion was so total and complete that I was physically and emotionally incapable of working that day. I literally spent hours on my office floor. And you know what? I felt terrible about not doing more to take care of my babies.

I felt like anyone who knew the truth of my situation would conclude that I was a bad mom.

Believing that a mom who did less than half of the childcare responsibilities was a bad mom was a belief that I had to let go of.

It wasn't serving me.

It was just making me feel not good enough.

So, I worked hard to switch my belief around that topic.

The new belief that I decided to embrace was that I was a brave mom, who was jumping into new territory, knowing that by taking this jump into the unknown, I would be in a much better position to provide for my family, and have the balance I wanted in the future, and that the learning curve was steep and time consuming. After this day that I spent on the floor of my office, I started working six days a week instead of seven, and Sunday turned into my day off.

Importantly, I moved into this greater balance from a place of appreciation for myself, and my ability to use focus and structure to be more effective with my time rather than from a place of believing that I'm a bad mom and beating myself up.

Letting go of the belief that a good mom has to look a certain way allowed me to open my heart to the possibility of how I could be the best mom that I could be.

I was a good lawyer, and I was a good mom, when I was starting a business and working seven days a week.

I was a good lawyer, and I was a good mom, when I limited myself to six days a week of work.

I was a good lawyer, and I was a good mom, when I transitioned to working from home and increased the amount of time that I got to have with my kids.

In each of these different ways that I have structured my work, one thing has remained consistent. When I love and appreciate myself, I am so much happier and healthier than when I criticize myself for what I'm not doing. As career women and as mothers, we all have different balances of what's right for each of us and our families.

I hope that you will listen to this episode and that you will:

Love yourself, Mama. 

Love others.

Be empowered to make the work-life balance choices that are right for you. 

For more information and to learn more about Kara Stein-Conaway please visit The Business Mamas Podcast.

Follow @karasteinconaway on Instagram. 

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