By no means am I an expert, but I do feel like I can help you find success as your own boss by telling you what has worked for me!

I realize that I am a bit of a hybrid of sorts. I work from home, but also from my office. I stay home with my children, but also bring them to work with me. I don’t necessarily fit into any one mold. And I love that! I decided that there wasn’t just one mold I wanted to fit in, and so I made my own!

To be honest, when I left my job 5 years ago, I would have never imagined that it would be this good! For starters, I only had one little boy at the time. Since then, a lot has changed! The biggest being the addition of our second little boy, Ryan. It has been amazing not having to say goodbye to him and go to work. Of course it comes with it’s challenges, but what doesn’t? You learn how to deal with the challenges and move forward. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade this chaotic, busy, beautiful life we’ve made for ourselves! On my journey, I’ve figured out what works for my family and what doesn’t.

The following tips and habits have helped me find success as my own boss.

Work When it Makes Sense For You

I am not your traditional 9-5 employee. I work when it makes sense for me. That could be in the wee hours of the morning, while Ryan naps, or at night time after the kids have gone to sleep! Literally, no two days are the same in our household.

A sub category to this tip would be: Plan, Plan, Plan! Because I am fitting in both work and mothering into my day-to-day, I have to plan our days out in advance. My husband and I have a family calendar that we share with each other on our phones. We also have our business schedule that is shared. Basically, neither one of us can ever use the excuse “Oh, I didn’t know that was happening today!”

If I have a work deadline and I know I can’t get a sitter, then I know that I’ll be burning the midnight oil to get it done. And that’s ok! The way I see it is the reason I’ll be working all night is because I got to spend all day with my little ones! And as long as I’ve planned for it in advance, it’s not a big deal!

Get rid of Distractions

For me, a major distraction has been the television. I recently realized I was spending a ridiculous amount of my down time watching T.V.. It wasn’t until I was listening to a podcast by the amazing Rachel Hollis that I realized that watching TV at night was taking me no where. I was literally stunting my growth by sitting on the couch doing nothing to further my goals.

So what did I do? I gave it up! Well, not entirely! But in the past 2.5 weeks, I have watched TV at night only once! And I have seen a HUGE improvement in my productivity and my motivation. That’s not to say that I’m not relaxing, because I still do. But now I’m relaxing in a different way – exercising, reading, working on my blog, etc. All ways that help promote my health, wellness, and goals! Don’t get me wrong, you may catch me watching my favorite show once in a blue moon, but it’s no longer a nightly thing! My next challenge is to give it up for 30 days! I’ll keep you posted! 😉

Your distraction may be something different – video games, browsing social media, etc. But I guarantee you that if you put it aside, you will see success as your own boss!

Ask for Help

Here’s a major tip; ask for help! When people ask me “how do you do all that you do?” the answer is “I don’t do it alone!” I know you’ve heard the saying “it takes a village” to raise kids! Well the same is true of growing your own business, especially when you have children! There is no way I could do what I do if it weren’t for all of the family and friends who pull through and lend a helping hand!

Remember why you became your own boss

When I started my own business, I remember coming up with my mission statement. It was something along the lines of “To provide excellent service to my clients while still being able to prioritize my family.” I can’t remember it exactly and of course I can’t find it at the moment! However, the important thing to note here is that my intention was to make work life and family life work together! My goal was not to become a millionaire (although, wouldn’t that be nice). My goal also wasn’t to stay at home with my children every single day. So it’s ok if I need help and have someone watch my child a few hours a week so that I can get my work done!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I know a lot of stay at home moms who think that they can’t utilize childcare because they think “isn’t that the reason I’m staying home?” Yes, you are staying home so that you can be there for your children. But that doesn’t mean you have to be there for your child every second of every day. Staying home with your children means that when your child is sick, you don’t have to worry about calling out of work. It means when your child has a doctor appointment, you can take him yourself. Staying home with your children means that you can schedule your days with playtime, museum visits and play dates! But it does not mean that you can’t schedule in some work time for yourself!

Asking for help will definitely find you success as your own boss!

---

If you are thinking about making the switch over to being your own boss, I say do it! Of course, there are some things you’ll have to consider. For that, I recommend you read this blog post here.

The bottom line: You can definitely have success as your own boss! You just have to want it bad enough to make it work!