You Can Have It All, But Not All At The Same Time

Have you heard the saying, “you can have it all, but not all at the same time?”

Real talk - I used to try like hell to prove this wrong, but I found that I couldn’t by witnessing major burnout.

I wanted to start and grow a business AND have flexible hours with Ellie. I wanted this while Sean’s work schedule had him leaving on Monday and coming home late Thursday.

Sounds like a successful recipe, right?

While I thought I was doing a great job for a couple of years, I slowly started to feel more tired than normal, overly stressed, anxious, quick to snap... I think you get the picture. While I’m sure these things happened at work - I’m 100% sure they happened more at home. Sean and I had a come to Jesus talk because it was affecting our weekend family time.

I couldn’t have it all and (after many tapping sessions) I didn’t want to have it all. The black hole of a to-do list was so overwhelming it was like a freight train coming straight at me each and every day.

This caused me to really look at what I wanted to handle and how I wanted to show up both for home and for work.

This is the time I started to wonder if I actually wanted to keep the physical space of The Hatchery open. Don’t get me wrong, I freaking loved that space and what it created for people. And don’t get me wrong, I could have done a million things differently to have a different ending - but I didn’t and I’m not going to dwell on it.

Fast forward to now. I’ve dug into who I am, what I feel I can offer people, and how I can offer it. I’ve worked on my schedule and what I can actually accomplish to not overwhelm myself.

Do I want to put more hours into my business? Yes.
Do I want to take on waaay more clients? Yes.

But…

Do I want to be finished with work by the time I pick up Ellie? Yes.
Do I want to be able to take off Fridays to get away and spend the day with Sean? Yes.

So, in this “season” I’m taking on what I can with the time I have and reminding myself of all the cliche quotes:

“I’m exactly where I need to be”
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint”
“You can’t have your cake and eat it, too”

You know, all those things!

For those who are trying your damnedest to run a business, and a family, and your own self-care because you feel like you have to keep up with someone else out there - you don’t. Nobody is keeping score except for you.