Even though kids are wonderful, it can sometimes feel like the time we spend with them at home is a waste career-wise. That could not be further from the truth. Raising children is like a workshop for developing qualities that are critical for a great career. There are things you just cannot learn in a classroom.
Managing a family is actually really similar to managing a business. I started counting all the leadership and management skills that you develop by raising children and I realized that it’d take two posts to cover them all. I could actually write the next 10 posts about it because there is so much material but I figured I should give other topics a fighting chance.
Kids teach Time management that is crucial for a great career
Time management is a crucial skill for a creat career and nothing teaches that better than raising children. All the mothers I know are excellent at time management. The more kids they have the better they are at it. I know it seems impossible but there is nothing they can’t manage to get done. You’d think having more kids = bigger chaos but trust me, there is a method to the madness 🙂
If you cannot plan your time at work then some of the work simply won’t get done or you’d just earn less as an entrepreneur. However, if you cannot manage your time as a mother then it would result in a hungry family with no clean clothes to wear and no extracurricular activities. Basically, they would become wildlings.
All of that is something you cannot let happen as a mother. Especially dropping the extracurricular activities because sometimes we just need the kids to be out of the house so we could recharge our batteries 🙂 As an office worker, you’re in charge of managing only your own time but a mother is in charge of the entire family’s logistics.
One cannot see how much space there actually is in their schedule and how much more effective they can be with the time they have before they have children. You basically become a living excel sheet once the little rascals come along.
You become a fast problem-solver
As you are building your career, there are always problems that need solving. It is the same as a mother and it is non-stop. You solve one only to get started on another problem and round and round it goes like a vicious circle. How about we just call them challenges so it doesn’t sound all doom and gloom 🙂 I don’t want to frighten any future parents.
For example, I was nursing the baby while her brother got up from the potty and demanded to be wiped while taking threatening steps toward the playroom. At the same time, the morning porridge was about to bubble over reminding me that it needs to be removed from the heat. Safe to say I had forgotten all about it.
All three simultaneously demanded my attention and action. Moms know that situations like these arise all the time one after another and all of them need to get solved and fast. This is an excellent chance to train to keep a cool head in stressful situations and how to find the fastest and most optimal solution with minimal casualties.
Raising kids will benefit your career more than you think
and vice versa.
Your communication skills get to the next level
If you want to make a great career, it is important to create and maintain a good relationship with your co-workers and clients which is why good communication skills are so important. However, communication is not just important but rather a necessity in a family setting.
At the end of the day, everyone must feel like they got enough attention; that they matter, and are understood. If a business relationship goes sour then you can find a new associate or an employee but it is not quite that simple with children. You can’t choose or exchange them just because your personalities don’t match. Kids don’t come with a 14-day return policy.
You have to work with what you brought home from the hospital and do your best to find the balance between different wishes and character traits. Moms are the ones making sure everyone gets along and they act as glue binding family members together by bringing happiness and peace to the house. Although sometimes it feels like moms are nothing but referees at a boxing match 😀 trying to keep the little fighters in line.
You become excellent in sales
Sales and raising children – potato potahto! They’re basically one and the same. And sales skills are necessary in some extent almost in every career.
I get to polish up on my sales and negotiation skills on a daily basis. Why isn’t it a good idea to wear flip flops outside in the dead of winter? Why can’t we have chocolate candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Why do we need to get ready for bed while in the middle of the most exciting game? Why, why, why, why…and saying BECAUSE MOM SAYS SO doesn’t really carry any weight anymore.
It goes without saying that I am dealing with the most demanding and difficult clients I’ve ever dealt with and they aren’t buying what I’m selling no matter how good my sales pitch is. Also, they’re in no hurry to agree with your logical counterpoints to whatever they suppose.
You learn to stay calm in the midst of chaos
Raising children can be quite stressful from time to time (if not daily). That’s just how the cookie crumbles and we have to make our peace with that. Try to find a career with no stress at all. Can be a challenge.
I don’t consider myself a perfect parent (I’m probably light years away from that) but I’ve observed that I am also not the only one who pulls at their hair from time to time.
I; like 2400 other Estonian parents, joined Tanel Jappinen’s free 10-day challenge on how to stretch a parent’s detonating fuse. If that doesn’t show you how ‘peaceful’ raising children is then I don’t know what will 🙂
I realize my efforts to not scare away future parents is kind of taking a hit here but the truth is that being a parent is stressful and you need to learn to manage it. I guess the age-old truth stands true – ‘Life is 10% of what happens to you (read: what your children come up with) and 90% how you react to it’.
I have the utmost respect for all mothers. Moms, you don’t even realize what excellent managers and entrepreneurs you are due to the experience you’ve gained from raising children. Fathers also do a good job; of course, but moms do it just a tad bit better 🙂
As I mentioned before, the next post will be on the same subject so I’ll see you soon.
With love,
Annika
P.S. If you know someone who would benefit from reading this post please share it with them! They will appreciate it and so do I! ❤️
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