There’s a question that most entrepreneurs ask themselves at one time or another. Can I have it all? The answer to that question is, yes you can have it all. It just looks differently than what you think.
Work life balance is finally starting to be more widely embraced among entrepreneurs. With bestsellers like Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek, and endless advice on the Internet about how to achieve work-life balance; it seems that entrepreneurs are fully embracing the work smarter not harder mentality. Although entrepreneurship goes hand in hand with having a career you love, less time at work means more time for your family, health, hobbies, and travel.
The problem is, for the vast majority of us, balancing all of those things can still be a struggle. Lately I have realized that I have a pretty good handle on keeping work, my health, and my social life balanced but I have no idea how I will continue that balance once children are brought into the picture. I also travel less than I want to and I know that will only increase once children are brought into the picture. Although John and I are not planning to have children too soon, this thought already creeps in the back of my mind.
A friend of mine, who is a mom and a small business owner, recently told me that you find the time to be a parent but that time comes from other areas of your life. So essentially, one day I will find the time to be a parent but it will mean that I am most likely doing less of something else. I simply can’t make more hours in a day so something will have to give. This doesn’t mean that I will have to give up an area of my life completely, just that it will be different. Instead of doing cardio in the morning, a Beachbody workout mid day, and weights in the afternoon with John, I may find myself doing one workout and walking with my child in the afternoons. Instead of spending certain weekends getting lost in a book and reading until I fall asleep, I might read for an hour before my children wake up.
Having it all doesn’t mean that I can’t be an entrepreneur, artist, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, etc. It just means that I can’t be perfect. In order to have it all, I have to know that there are some areas that I may not be the absolute best in. There will be days that I don’t balance everything perfectly, there will be times when I make mistakes, and there will be moments where I feel like I don’t have it all together. That’s a part of life whether you are trying to have it all or not.
Once you let go of the notion of being perfect, you can have it all by simply giving life your all and doing what you can to maintain a healthy balance. We often have an image in our mind of someone who has it all but the reality is that the only way to truly have it all is to completely embrace imperfection. Redefine having it all to having all that you want and all that makes you feel healthy and happy.