Solo Mom Success

"Choice, not circumstances, determines your success." Anonymous


What does success look like? Not to the world, not to your friends or family - let's talk about how you define and envision YOUR success.

Success at home, work/business or life at large - is whatever you say it is!  As a solo mom, you may find yourself measuring your successes against those of other moms or other women in general, and feel that you are falling miserably short.  The reality of it is this: since you are unique, then that makes your goals, your challenges and your successes unique to you.

As an example, a sister-friend of mine shared a bit of an intimate conversation that she had recently with her teen aged son, in which he asked her what being successful meant for her.  She expressed to him, that as his mother, she felt that she will have been successful once she got to the point of financial stability that would allow for her to see him off to school in the morning, be readily available to him throughout the day, and be home to greet him when his school day is done - and still pay the bills.  This is what is most important in her life right now, so this is what she sees as being a successful mom.

Something as simple as being present for your children at all times, may not be seen by someone who is not a solo mom as a huge success in life.  But the fact that we do not have a natural support system in place - willing to step in so that we can go to work and not be stressed about the who, what, when and where's of our children's daily routine - makes being 100% hands on, without having to leave our kid's to fend for themselves, a major success.  Again, this is just one example of an area of success where solo mom's tend to regularly feel less than accomplished.

When we look at going from survival to success, the previous example represents the challenge. The creative solutions applied to that challenge represent survival - and yes, creativity is key.  Everything that I speak about involves being both creative and resourceful, these are necessary tools for solo mom success.  Examples of such creativity and resourcefulness may be co-oping with other parents, changing your work schedule if possible, changing jobs (hard to do as of this writing - but possible), or even creating your own income.  I've done all of these things in order to be successful at being available to my children, so I know that these suggestions are all possible.

Your success is absolutely, and in every way, exactly what you make it.  Your wants, needs, and expectations of yourself, dictate what makes you successful every day of your life and in all that you do.  YOU decide what YOU want, then YOU go about the business of creating the success that YOU seek.  It's about what works for you and your family - you can not allow other people's ideas or thought processes to dictate or influence your success if they don't fit your mold!  As long as we continue to compare ourselves to others, and allow ourselves to simply just "get by" or survive, we will continue to delay the success that is rightfully ours.
So if you haven't already, start now to purposefully plan your success, prayerfully prepare for it, then positively proceed to persistently pursue YOUR SUCCESS!