Why Do You Do What You Do?

Being your own boss has its challenges, you have to be self motivating and learn to delegate. Sometimes that can be a challenge all it's own.

These past few months I have been faced with many challenges with my personal life that if I did not manage my time correctly could have been a disaster for my business. But, on the other hand I am grateful that I can take the time needed to handle my personal life and it not effect my business. Maybe you can relate to my story in some way.

Being a mother to three boy's, wife and the executive director of the household has it's rewards. But this year my oldest son graduated from high school. If you have had the first graduate, I am sure you are in total agreement that you have all these emotions running through you and you feel you are on a roller coaster.

The last few weeks of school we had award assemblies, parties, photo sessions, scholarship to do lists, making sure you child sends out the announcements in time, recording the gifts your child receives so the thank you notes can be written and the list goes on.

But wait, I also have two other boy's that I have to prepare for summer, I have to help them choose their schedule for the upcoming year, attend their award ceremonies, get ready to start summer baseball, etc.

Ok, I will be very honest, my life is very quite and pretty much nothing major has ever happened and it has been 10 years since there was a death in our family. So, the month of May my brother-in-law lost his battle with cancer, which his funeral was 3 days before my son's graduation, my mother had to have a pace maker installed 6 days before his graduation and required staying in the hospital for 2 days in another city, which required me to travel and miss out on a couple of ceremonies, which broke my heart, but I had to make a choice and my mother needed me more than my son did and being the kind of person he is, totally understood.

So, now I return home 2 days before graduation and still have to prepare his graduation party and prepare for the actual day. This is where I was so grateful to have a husband that was willing to help. We worked all day Friday to get everything ready for graduation and then on the day of graduation everything went off perfectly! You would never have known what we had been through the prior week.

Then 2 days later I received a phone call that our dear friend, David, passed away. He was 45 and died of a heart attack in his home. This was a shock!

The following week we had to take our son down to the college for a three day orientation and juggle the other two boy's so they would not miss out on baseball.

Ok, now you can imagine what those couple of week were like and if you own your own business, you are not only juggling family matters, but your clients as well.

How do you do this? Well, it's called "DON'T PANIC!" I sat in the parking lot of the hospital with cell phone and laptop talking to clients and telling them what I was up against for the week at the same time reassuring them everything was under control. Used my mother's desktop to access my computer at home for files, etc. Working whenever I had a chance.

I also had to delegate certain tasks to my two VAs and since I have top notch sub-contractors I knew I was in good hands.

The key here is to know your limitations and know when to ask for help. But, you must also keep your client informed of your family emergencies. They will understand. Afterall, we all are only human!

I am very blessed to have a good relationship with all my clients and each one was very understanding and supportive during this trying time.

In a couple of weeks we will be moving our son to college, which again will be another roller coaster ride, but I have already scheduled to be off that entire week, since one of my clients gave me excellent advice since she has walked in my shoes and told me that I would need that week to prepare for my oldest son embark on a new chapter in his life and mine to!

I promised myself I would not cry at graduation and I did'nt, but I did cry when I walked him to his car as he was leaving for the actual ceremony all dressed up with his cap and gown in hand. As I stood there and looked at this 6'2 young man all I saw was my little 5 year old boy preparing for Kindergarten and full of excitement. I hugged him then and I hugged him on this day and told him how proud I was of him and how much I loved him and to promise me he would not pull a prank at the ceremony, which he didn't!

One final thought...Our son received several scholarships for his academic achievements, but there are still hefty expenses that go with college. With that said, when you are working in the middle of night on a project for a client, exhausted and would much rather be sleeping, just remember that one day you to might have a child graduating and wanting to attend college. Remember, why you do what you do and you want to send your son or daughter to the best school possible, you get a burst of energy from within because you know that what you do not only benefits you, but those around you and you can give them everything they deserve.