Setting Goals as a Single Mother
It’s the start of a new year. Everyone is making goals for 2024.
Maybe, if you’re a single mom, you might not have even thought about setting any goals for the year.
You might be thinking: “I’m a single mom. I am just trying to survive my day to day. I can’t make goals! I can’t add anything extra to my already full schedule.”
I’ve been a single mother since pregnancy. I used to think that way, too. I believed that goals, dreams, and aspirations were for other women: moms with co-parenting partners or women without kids. I let this belief block me from growth: spiritually, physically, emotionally, and financially. I committed myself to only accomplishing the bare minimum.
When faced with a new opportunity for growth, I’d give the excuse, “I can’t; I’m a single mom.”
That excuse was a sufficient reason to not work out, take a class, meditate, read books, go for walks, fill in the blank. No one ever countered me to say, “Yes, you can! You can do anything if you want it badly enough even if you’re a single mom.”
That’s where the truth lies. “You can do anything if you want it badly enough.”
I used single motherhood as my excuse to not go after my dreams and take steps toward goals.
Instead of using single motherhood as a reason to not go after your dreams, look deeper in yourself and find what really is standing in your way of accomplishing goals. I’m not reaching for this goal because:
- I’m not committed to the struggle.
- I’m not willing to work hard.
- I’m afraid of failure.
Be real with yourself. I had to. I was afraid of working hard and then failing. It would be humiliating to try something and then not get it. After being honest with myself, I put aside my single motherhood excuse and I started to make changes in my life. Because I stepped away from my excuse, I:
- successfully transitioned from nursing to software engineering
- powerlift
- make over six-figures
- am in a MBA program
- write romance books (160+ titles)
- work from home and homeschool my daughter
Single motherhood doesn’t have to be your excuse to not live the life you dream of and take steps toward goals that will lead to your dream life.
Just a reminder: Marie Curie was a single mother and won 2 Nobel prizes.
You can do anything if you want it badly enough.
Writer Info:
If you would like help balancing parenthood with reaching goals, big or small, email me: imee.the.author@gmail.com
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