Managing the Shit in Your Life.

Let’s talk about the challenges of building a business while managing all of the other Shit in your life.

I’ve made a good amount of money in my business over the last few years..

I have grown my business, and shrunk it, and grown it.

But in the background I have had a constant thing going on. Some of you already know this- I’m a mom to 4 kids. Ages 24, 22, 19, and 16.

My oldest fell off of a horse in December 2015, and hit her head, and was in the middle of what we think now was her first psychotic break. (We think that the psychotic break caused the accident, not vice-versa).

She has been hospitalized MANY, Many times.

Before you suggest I try XYZ treatment know I’ve probably considered it, and either tried it or rejected it.

My point is this. I’m ALWAYS, ALWAYS managing her care in the background. It may take 10 hours a week or it may take 30 in a given week.

I am her legal guardian, so every time ANYTHING happens, I get to hear about it, and make a decision on it.

She didn’t take her meds? Call mom. She hit her head? Call mom. She bit another caregiver? Call mom. You name it. Call mom.

It just doesn’t stop.

And right now, she’s going through a really rough patch, and we are dealing with Catatonia as well at this exact moment, and she’s been hospitalized 3 times in the last month.

It never, ever stops.

My point is this. We all have things going on in our businesses. We all have things going on in our lives.

My shit is neither easier nor harder than yours.

We all have it. There are going to be weeks where the tech doesn’t work. Unexpected expenses happen. Clients act up. All of it. Your partner may be a jerk, and the dog may decide to eat the couch again. And to top it off, dinner got burned.

Work on yourself so you can handle it. So you don’t explode. Don’t beat yourself up.

Take care of yourself.

I know that a lot of people don’t know that I actually spend time every day meditating and praying, and doing my gratitude exercises. I take long, hot baths, with foo foo bath bombs regularly. I take naps on weekends (And I really do not exist before 2 on a Saturday.. )

You cannot control everyone else. You maybe can’t control some of the stuff going on in your life. Nobody can.

What you can control is yourself. How you react, How you feel, and how you decide to let those situations derail your life- or not.

There will always be assholes, and jerks, and all the things.

Are you going to let them take you down? Or are you going to focus on yourself, and your own oxygen mask first?

I prefer to not let my daughter’s situation take me down, and I prefer to put my own oxygen mask first.