Are you a stay-at-home mom who has finally conquered its struggles and challenges? If so, are you now working towards becoming more than the woman that you are today? Here are 8 ways to help empower you to transform your life as a stay-at-home mom and become successful in your own ways.
This is part 2 of my post, “How Stay-at-Home Moms can Survive and Thrive“.
What makes a successful stay-at-home mom?
Our answers wouldn’t probably match.
While some of us look at being a successful stay-at-home mom as being efficiently managing our multiple roles at home, some have a different perspective.
If you ask me, I would say that being a successful stay-at-home mom means I’m able to serve my purpose of staying home with my kids. No, it isn’t to become an all-around cleaner or a master chef of home-cooked meals. Although of course, it’s part of my duties.
My ultimate purpose is to personally guide my kids as they grow up in all aspects of their lives, most especially on their spiritual growth. That’s why I chose to stay at home.
Of course, I want them to have a successful career in the future, and to have a happy family of their own. But all of these only comes next after I see them as successfully fulfilling their duties to God and as members of the Church of Christ.
Now, what does it mean to thrive as a stay-at-home mom?
Being a mother is a game of survival where every stage of motherhood is a battle. And being a stay-at-home mom is yet another game.
“I will tell you though – being a stay at home mom is no joke. From the outside, it looks like it would be a lot easier – nowhere to be in the morning, no more pressures from the outside. But it’s not,” says Steph in her article on becoming a stay-at-home mom.
And I couldn’t agree more.
Although most stay-at-home moms are definitely happy with their choices (like me, and fellow stay-at-home mom Abbie who considers it as “living the dream” in her blog post), we still can’t hide the fact that there are challenges and struggles that come along with it.
But we’re naturally survivors.
The thing is, since most of us just want to survive, we sometimes forget the need to thrive. Just like a deer being chased down by a lion, focusing our efforts just to survive the day.
I’d say we should stop just trying to survive but instead, aim to thrive. To grow and flourish as a person. To become a better and even the best version of ourselves. To become a successful stay-at-home mom.
You might say that being a mother had already made us better. We’ve grown in ways we never imagined we could.
We learned to control our patience, to multi-task, to improvise. We’ve become masters of different skills. But that’s us being a mother.
What about that woman within us before our kids?
Don’t we have skills that aren’t about feeding kids and changing diapers?
Some of us are talented graphic designers, writers, or entrepreneurs. Some of us love traveling and exploring new cultures.
Related post: How to Balance Motherhood and Passion, and Why Do it Now
If we’re not going to pursue our own passion and chase our dreams, who would be there to teach our kids about passion and self-discovery? After all, isn’t that our ultimate goal why we chose to stay at home? Isn’t that how we would know that we’ve become successful in being a stay-at-home mom?
While every mom has their own standards of how they would define themselves as a successful stay-at-home mom, I know some of you agree with me (and that’s probably why you’re still reading this).
So, how can we thrive and become successful stay-at-home moms?
If you want to not just survive this thing called “motherhood” but to also thrive and become a successful stay-at-home mom, here are the steps:
1. Find your WHY
I’ve come across this when I was reading an article by mymommstyle.com. Camille says, “it is my personal belief that motherhood is a divine calling that I am meant for. This is my most important work. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for me to work toward something that burns within me to give more or be more than the woman I am today.”
And I agree with her.
That’s why it’s important to start our journey to becoming a successful stay-at-home mom with knowing exactly what’s our WHY.
When I joined an MLM company in 2016, this is the first exercise that we did after signing up: defining our WHY. We were told to create our dream board to remind us what we are aiming for, and to push us to do our best to achieve whatever is on that board.
Thankfully, it reminded me that I wanted to be a published writer. And that has become my WHY. That has become my sign of when I can tell myself, “hey, you’re a successful stay-at-home mom.” Of course, that’s after I also I achieve my purpose for my kids.
Now if you don’t have a dream board, I suggest that you start creating one. I’m not sure if you believe in the “law of attraction”, but having a dream board sort of attracts positivity to your life that makes your dream come true. I can say that because 2 out of the 5 things in my dream board already came true.
Once we know our WHY, it’s time to start a plan. Writing them down will help you keep track of your goals. So with mine, I had them all written down on my iPhone’s Notes. And once I was ready to nail them, I just had to look back and start each of them one by one.
2. Don’t get too overwhelmed with your duties at home
With everything going in between raising kids and doing an endless routine of household chores, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Whenever you feel like you’re head’s about to explode, stop. Sit down for five minutes and focus on your breathing. In short, just relax and calm down (here’s how to avoid the stay-at-home mom burnout).
We know there are lots of things to be done, and it’s not being weak or incompetent if we admit we can’t do everything alone.
Delegate tasks between you and your husband. If your kids are old enough to help with the chores, let them. Hire a cleaner once in a while to deep clean your house. Ask a relative to babysit your kids once a week. Find ways to relax and master the art of self-care.
Once your mind is cleared and you’re no longer overwhelmed with your duties at home, then you can focus on ways to thrive and become a successful stay-at-home mom.
3. Have the right mindset
Do you feel guilty because instead of reading a book about child development, you’re reading this article on how to become a successful stay-at-home mom?
While it’s our goal to guide our kids on their development, there’s nothing wrong with also developing ourselves as a person. Who else could be our kids’ role model anyway?
So stop feeling guilty, or feeling ashamed, or thinking it’s impossible.
If you want to thrive and become successful as a stay-at-home mom, you need to start from having the right mindset.
Start believing that you deserve to grow as an individual. Have faith in yourself and on what you can do. Have a positive growth mindset. Talk to yourself and say, “I can do better than this.”
If you want to become a successful stay-at-home mom, have the mindset of a successful stay-at-home mom.
Sometimes, it’s all about tricking our brain so it forces our body to act like we’re actually what we think of ourselves.
4. Focus on opportunities and possibilities
Once we become a stay-at-home mom, it’s easy to get trapped into a daily routine of parenting and housekeeping. Our mind starts to look at our situation as something “normal” because this is what stay-at-home moms do anyway, right? I don’t think so.
I chose to become a stay-at-home mom to be there for my kids, and it just so happened that we can’t afford to hire a helper yet. That’s the advantage of working moms; they can still be there for their kids (they make up for it whenever they can), they can hire a helper, and they can thrive in their career.
But not just because we can’t hire a helper means we can’t thrive in our passion. So rather than focusing on our limitations, we need to look for ways to do things more efficiently. There are various ways on how to be more productive (Kami shares in her post 5 productivity tools for busy moms), and how we can manage our time better at home.
If we choose to focus on the lack of time or the fact that we don’t get as much rest as we want to, we’re letting go of the opportunities and possibilities of becoming a successful stay-at-home mom.
To be honest, I just realized not so long ago that stay-at-home moms don’t actually lack time—in fact, we have lots of it in our hand. We’re just too focused on the perception that as stay-at-home moms, our only duty is to our family.
I mean, our kids don’t really need our attention 24/7, right? They need time to engage themselves in individual play.
“My kid is clingy and doesn’t want me out of her sight,” you might say. And so is my youngest daughter. But not when she’s asleep. So I took that opportunity, woke up earlier every day before she does, and nailed down my writing goals. And then all the possibilities came pouring in. I’m not a successful stay-at-home mom yet, but I’m working on it.
Every situation is different, I know. But if we keep on telling ourselves that it’s not possible to become a successful stay-at-home mom and we keep on giving ourselves an excuse not to thrive, then it’s not really possible.
5. Look straight into our ultimate goals
As a stay-at-home mom, one of our objectives is to spend more quality time with our kids, right? And so, whatever we do should support this goal.
Our kids’ needs should always come first. Everything else can wait for 30 minutes or so, even the laundry.
That’s why I’ve come to the point where if I have to stop what I’m doing just to cuddle them in their sleep because they asked me to, I will (and I just did while typing this sentence).
I’ve also realized that quality time isn’t necessarily more time. While we stay-at-home moms spend more time with our kids compared if we work from 9-5, that doesn’t translate to “quality time”. Quality time means we dedicate our full attention to them without any distraction.
That’s why I’d like to think of myself as a “working mom”, too, whose day job is to do the laundry, clean the house, feed the kids, etc. When I’m done, then I spend some quality time with my kids by taking them out for a walk or playing with them. To be honest, I’m bad at managing distractions aka my phone, but I’m working on it.
Now, our ultimate goals might not be the same as the others. But whatever it is, we just need to start working on it and prioritizing it over the others, so we become more receptive to opportunities and possibilities to thrive and become a successful stay-at-home mom.
6. Keep on learning about parenting
According to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, “if we stop learning, we stop progressing in life”. I believe this holds true even for parenting. We can read books, attend parenting classes, or engage with online mom groups. We’d be surprised by how much we can learn on top of what we already know.
When we keep on learning, our brain gets the exercise it needs. And the more we learn, the more we become confident about our parenting skills. And the more we become confident in ourselves, the more we know that we can thrive as a person and become a successful stay-at-home mom.
7. Stop comparing yourself to others
Once we know our ultimate goals and we start to learn from others, it’s sometimes also easy to feel as if our goals and our parenting skills are not any better compared to other moms out there. So, stop comparing.
We’re all different and we have our own strengths and weaknesses. While some moms prefer to homeschool their kids, others don’t. While some moms prefer zero screen time for their kids, other’s don’t. While some moms prefer exclusive breastfeeding, other’s don’t. That doesn’t mean others are better moms. And learning from others doesn’t mean we apply everything we’ve learned. It just means we have more options to choose from.
“There is no way to be a perfect mom, but a million ways to be a good one”, says Jill Churchill. That’s why we should go easy on ourselves. Cut ourselves some slack. Strive for good enough, and not for perfection. So as long as everything we do is for our kids’ best, we’re doing good enough.
If others are focusing on their role as a mother, don’t feel guilty that you’re also thriving to flourish as an individual person. You can still be a successful stay-at-home mom even if you do things outside of being a “mom”.
8. Surround yourself with the positive-minded people
Remember when we were told that it’s good for stay-at-home moms to make friends? Apryl Duncan wrote an article about the reasons why we need friends, and that includes the reality that friendships are a necessary support system, which I believe so.
In my pursuit of passion, I have friends who support me in what I do. But not all my friends are behind me on my journey, and I get it. You can’t always have what you want in life, anyway.
That’s why if you want to thrive, you need not just to make friends and develop relationships — you have to make sure that these people who’ll surround you are positive-minded ones. You know how they say that we should surround ourselves with like-minded people? I believe in that, too.
If you love traveling, then make friends with people who are passionate travelers, too. If you’re an art-lover, find people who love art, too. If you’re in love with financial investment, then network with people in the same industry. If you want to be a successful stay-at-home mom, talk to successful stay-at-home moms. This way, we’ll be reminded of our goals and we’ll never lose track.
It’s time to start thriving
With these 8 steps, I hope that you’ll also be able to start your journey to becoming a successful stay-at-home mom. Our definition of success or failure isn’t definitely the same, but remember not to measure it against others. We won’t be happy with our own success if we compare ourselves from the success of others (that’s what I learned from Mark Manson).
Here’s what to do next:
- Create your dream board and put it somewhere that you can always see i.e. your phone’s wallpaper, or at your bedroom wall.
- Using these 8 steps, start formulating your monthly plan (you can use my free printable 12-Month Goal Planner that you can download below; start with the first three months, and go forward along the way) on how you will achieve these dreams. Remember, a dream with an action plan becomes a goal. So, go for the gold and aim for that goal!
I love this so much. I have been wanting to create a dream board and after seeing yours the desire is even more. I need to slow down and dream more!! Thank you for the encouragement!
You’re welcome! Go for it 🙂 Creating a dream board doesn’t take much time 🙂
Hi, sis! Thanks so much for putting together this list, for including my thoughts, and most important, for saying this: “But all of these only come after I see them successfully fulfilling their duties to God as members of the Church of Christ.” 😍
Welcome sis 😊
#1 FIND YOUR WHY!!! YES YES YES!!! This makes all the difference in the world!
I once was told I was a stay at home mom because I wasn’t educated enough to afford childcare for my 2 kids… and by a family member… that statement was so wrong and frustrating to me.
I am not an advocate for staying at home but what I can say is do what is best for your family.
I love everything about this article!!! Thank you for sharing!
Welcome and thank you for reading it 🙂
People think what they want to think so it doesn’t really matter 🙂 As long as we’re doing what we think is the best for our kids 🙂
Such a great list! Mindset is huge!!!
Great article. I think mindset goes really far when being a stay at home mom. That can help with growth and burnout I believe. I also fully agree to not compare to others. That is such a hard task in a lot of areas of life not just as a stay at home mom but can go a long way.
Exactly. Mindset is everything.
Great post! I may be transitioning into a more SAH home role soon so these are great tips!
Thank you 🙂 Sounds great!
I started working from home about 6 months ago and can attest to much of this! It’s been a great blessing to be able to spend time with my kids!!
Such a blessing indeed 🙂
Love this! Mindset and internal motivation is so important!
Exactly. Not just about being a SAHM. 🙂
I love this article! Its so spot on for stay at home moms. There was a big shift that had to happen for me mentally after leaving corporate life to come home and be a mom to my 3 boys under 5 and keep my nephew who is 4. There are hard days but good mom positive friends, a good outlook, realistic expectations and some routine really helps me!
I can’t imagine if I also had 3 boys. I only have 2 for now. You’re doing a great job there! 🙂
Mindset is the biggest thing! In order to be successful, you need to believe in yourself, first! Great read.
Amen! Our mind is really that powerful.
Great tips! It can be thought to be a mom.
Thanks! Yes, but also rewarding 🙂
Great blog I’ll pass on to my sister who is a stay at home momma.
I’m not a mother yet but this blog is encouraging and I can’t wait until this benefits me
I sure hope it does 🙂 And I hope your sister will be inspired by this blog, too.
I am not a mom yet, but I do work 2 jobs and maintain a blog and I still find a lot of value in this post. Throughout life you always have to find your WHY in multiple situations. I love your tips and tricks! Definitely inspirational and I will be using a dream board very soon. Thanks for this post!
Welcome and I’m glad it inspired you 🙂
This is such an important read for stay at home moms! I agree with household and chores becoming a “normal” routine day in and dat out! I know we’re raising our children, but we NEED an outlet. Something to do for US every single day because housework is NOT the normal. Great post. Love it!
Thank you, an outlet is definitely what we need to also destress and all 🙂
I love this approach to being a stay-at-home mom. Focusing on what I need to do to be successful at it is huge! I definitely feel motivated to go work on what I know is going to help me feel successful. Thanks!
Candice @littlestepsbighappy.com
Welcome! 🙂
I am not a mother myself but looking back on my childhood, my mom was a stay at home mom. I am now realizing just how demanding of a job she had and how hard it is! This is a very cool take on it! Thanks for the perspective.
Love that you start with finding your why. No matter what goal or plans we have we really need to know WHY we’re doing it, what’s it all for. Great post!
Thank you! Yes, exactly. Everything starts with a WHY 🙂
What?s up, I check your new stuff regularly. Your humoristic style is witty, keep up the good work! https://nanoprotection.ca
Excellent post. I absolutely appreciate this site.
Keep writing!
Greetings! I’ve been following your website for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Porter Texas! Just wanted to mention keep up the great job!
I think my mom can handle being a stay home mom because she doing it for 25 years.
I’m happy for her!
Thank you so much for including me in this wonderful blog post. You articulated the process of growth and making time for yourself while maintaining purposeful motherhood perfectly. Every day is different with motherhood and knowing our WHY is so important. Have you read “A Path Made Clear?” I think you would really enjoy it.
Not yet! I’d love to take a look 🙂
Hi Camille! No, I haven’t yet. Will try to check it out 🙂
I can’t tell you how much I love what you wrote here! Always go back to your ‘why’ when things get overwhelming. Best advice!
Thank you, Diane! Yes, I believe that it all comes back to our why 🙂