How To Start Thinking Bigger About What You Want And What You Can Achieve In Your Career After Having Children

​Many of the mothers I coach find it’s themselves who are blocking their own dreams and ambitions. Some assume that what they want out of life is beyond their reach now that they have children. Others think they don’t deserve to go for it, or that they should put their families’ needs and desires before their own.

One way I help the women I work with overcome these blocks and start thinking bigger about what they want and what they can achieve in their career after becoming a mother, is by asking them to create a vision of how they would like their life to be within the next one to three years, depending on the time frame that works for them.

Where would you like to live and with whom? What will your home be like? Who would you like to be surrounded by? Do you want to work full-time or part-time? For how many hours a day? At home or in an office? How much spare time do you want to have? Do you want to spend your spare time at the gym, reading, writing, designing? Do you want to travel? How often and to where? What do you want to look like? Will you be smartly or casually dressed? How do you want to feel? Happy, healthy, energetic, busy, relaxed?

You want your vision to resonate so here are some tips for getting it right:

• Try to be honest and as specific with the details as possible, and don’t let any doubts, fears or limiting beliefs get in the way.
• You can be as creative as you like, you’re the only person who will read your vision so don’t hesitate to include everything you want.
• When writing your vision take yourself out of your day-to-day environment and go somewhere that allows you to dream blue-sky and big. When you read your vision back to yourself, the idea is that you feel inspired and energised by what you have written. This exercise doesn’t want to feel anything like pressure!
• When you’ve completed your vision, keep it where you can see and regularly re-read it to remind yourself of the direction you would like your life to be heading.  And as a next step, you might like to try setting some monthly or quarterly goals that will get you closer to where you want to be.

Last thought...

A blackboard stood in the middle of New York City asking passers by to write down their biggest regrets. Watching the video you’ll find that what we tend to regret most is not failure, but the failure to try. There's no doubt that navigating career and family can be tough. But imagine what you might be missing out on if you don’t take steps to overcome your fears and doubts about what you have to contribute and how to combine work, life and children, and find a way of doing fulfilling work that matters to you and the world around you. Remember, you can still be you and be true to your dreams and ambitions whilst raising your family - it just takes a little bit of help and a healthy dose of courage.

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