Key personal development areas for moms to focus on
For lots of busy moms, personal development usually takes a back seat. When you are busy with work, kids, family, a business, or other responsibilities, finding the time for personal development isn’t easy.
But personal development is not something that should be ignored no matter how busy you are. It’s important to keep improving your life as a mom because when you stop improving yourself, you are in danger of falling into a rut or becoming dissatisfied with your life.
If you feel unhappy with your life or feel stuck, it is probably time to create a personal development or personal growth plan. A plan that will get you excited and challenge you to go after your dreams.
For busy moms who know the importance of personal development, here are some areas you should focus on.
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1. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR MOMS: FOCUS ON IMPROVING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY
I have been a mom for a long time and I can tell you that one of my biggest challenges is how to get things done. How do I find the time to accomplish most of my goals? How do I find the time to do all the things I want to do?
Time management and productivity are big challenges for many moms, yet they are the keys to living a happy and fulfilling life. You can’t be happy if you feel stressed or overwhelmed. You won’t be happy if you keep giving up on your dreams because you can’t find the time to go after them. That’s why you should focus on improving your productivity.
The more productive you are, the more things you can accomplish. When you accomplish more things, you feel more in control of your life. Who doesn’t like feeling in control?
I like knowing that I can set goals and achieve them. I prefer things when I know everything is in order. It’s better to be proactive than to respond to things that are happening around me or to me.
So, when you think about personal development for moms, start by thinking about how productive you are and how you can improve your productivity.
You can use the questions below to do a productivity self-assessment. The questions below will help you gauge how productive you are.
- Are you organized?
- Do you stay on top of your work or are you drowning?
- How often do you accomplish your goals?
- Do you procrastinate or delay taking action?
- Do you often wish you had more hours or time to complete tasks?
- Do you frequently ask yourself “where did the time go?”
And, if you need help tracking and boosting your productivity, check out this productivity planner on Amazon.
2. EDUCATION AND CAREER
Women, whether you are a mom or not, your education and career should be a part of your personal growth plan.
Personal development for women should include a plan for improving their education and/or career. Yes, this applies whether you are married or single.
Lots of moms put their career and education goals and aspirations on hold for many years. While some eventually go after their dreams, many do not for one reason or the other. Reasons may include, raising a family, thinking they are too old, having no marketable skills, and so on.
Many moms lose the desire to better themselves because they don’t have the time or resources they need. This is why moms need to have a plan for their careers and education.
Now, I know lots of moms are stay-at-home moms and they are happy and content. Not to sound negative, but I still believe stay-at-home moms can and should keep their skills and knowledge updated because you never really know.
Your career and education are two important personal development areas you should focus on. No matter how busy you are, you can always find the time to improve your skills and career (especially if you are unhappy with your job or educational level).
Many moms desire to go back to school to obtain a college degree or some certificate. Unfortunately, these moms can’t find a way to make it work. For some, they don’t have the finances to go back to school, while others can’t figure out a way to juggle college and family responsibilities.
If you feel stuck at your job or know you need a better job, you have to start thinking about what you can do to improve your career. Are you uncertain about where you are in your career (or wondering if you need more education)? Use the questions below to figure things out.
- Does your job promote work-life balance or does it leave you frazzled, exhausted, and frustrated?
- Are you happy with your job or career?
- Do you earn enough money from your job to cover your basic living expenses?
- Is there room for advancement at your current job?
- Are your current skills adequate for your job?
- Are there new skills you can learn that will help you advance your career?
- Do you need more education to get to the next level or to get your desired job/career?
No matter where you are in your career, there’s always room for improvement. So, if you’d like to improve your career or change to a different career, create a plan to help you achieve your dream.
3. FINANCES
Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or not, personal finance is an important area of your life.
Lots of moms are unhappy with their financial lives. Some of the reasons they are unhappy include having too much debt, not earning enough money, insufficient savings, unable to manage a budget, or having a spending problem.
Whatever the reason is, if you are unhappy with your financial life, then you should consider improving it. Financial problems can cause a lot of stress in the home, that’s why personal finance is such an important personal development area for moms.
Even if you are not the breadwinner in your home, you still need to know what’s going on with your family’s finances and how money is being managed in your home. Don’t assume everything is fine financially. Always know where you stand financially.
If you are unhappy with your finances or know you need to improve your financial life, the questions below will help you figure out what the issues are, so you can create a plan to address them. Answer the questions that follow as honestly as you can.
- Are you happy with your finances?
- If you have debts, do you know how much you owe?
- Do you know your net worth?
- Are you confident about your knowledge of personal finance?
- Do you have emergency savings?
- Do you have good money management skills?
The questions above will help you determine where you stand financially. If you don’t like the answers to these questions, consider creating a financial growth plan.
Your plan should include all the things you are unhappy about, the changes you need to make, and the steps you have to take to get your finances where you want them to be.
Financial stability doesn’t just happen. You have to be intentional and proactive about it. So make a plan to take control of your finances today.
4. HEALTH AND WELLBEING
As a mom, I have gone through long periods when I ignored my health or neglected self-care. Take it from someone who knows. You don’t want to do that.
Your health is so important that you must do everything you can to protect it. There’s a saying that “health is wealth.” This expression is very true.
There’s a limit to how much you can achieve without good health. Your health and wellbeing are two areas you must focus on no matter how busy you are.
When I talk about your health, I am talking about your physical, mental, and emotional health. You can be well physically but unwell mentally and emotionally.
Do everything you can to protect your mental and emotional health, even if that means cutting off some people from your life.
Whether you are a working mom, stay-at-home mom, or single mom, make your health and personal wellbeing a priority. Engage in self-care activities to help you stay fresh mentally and emotionally.
Health problems can cause major financial problems, and reduce the quality of your life if you ignore them. Prevention is the key to avoiding health problems.
Being in good health allows you to be more productive at work, and in every area of your life. This applies not only to your physical health but mental health as well.
So, take a long hard look at your life. Are you in good shape physically, mentally, and emotionally? Do you practice self-care? If so, how often? How can you improve your health?
To take this a step further, make a list of bad habits you need to work on, good habits to develop, and ways you can improve your total health.
For example, stop drinking excessively, start exercising or getting enough sleep, starting eating more fruits and vegetables.
By taking care of your health now, you can save yourself years of stress and financial problems.
If you are serious about improving your health and wellbeing, check out the personal development books for moms (and other resources) below. You can use them to help you stay healthy and practice self-care.
Health and Wellbeing resources
5. FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
Healthy relationships make for a happy and better life.
As a mom, I want to be happy in my relationships that’s why I always try to improve them. Every now and again, I ask myself “How can I make this relationship better?”
Whether it’s your relationship with your kids, spouse, parents, siblings, friends, employer, coworkers, or neighbors, you should always try to improve your relationships. Always think of ways you can become a better version of yourself.
For example, one of the ways I try to improve my relationship with my kids is to spend more time with them and to be less critical. When I am more accepting of others, my relationship with them generally improves. It’s the same way when I am kind and generous.
So, make it your goal to build healthy relationships with the people in your life. Now, this doesn’t mean you should become a people pleaser or hold onto unhealthy relationships. You don’t need unhealthy relationships that hold you back. You need people who are positive and affirming.
On the flip side, you need to be positive and affirming to the people in your life. It takes two to build a strong and healthy relationship. So, think about all the relationships in your life. Are they healthy? Do you need to cut ties with anyone?
What can you do to become a better mom, wife, employee, employer, or business owner?
Healthy relationships will boost your self-esteem, make you happier and more fulfilled. So, invest in relationship building no matter how busy you are.
Final thoughts on personal development for moms
So those are my top five areas of personal development for moms.
Taking the time to work on and improve these areas will lead to a better life. When you become more productive, you can achieve more of your goals and take control of your time.
Improving your finances, health, and relationship will help reduce stress and anxiety. So, pick one area you’d like to improve and start working on it. Make a list of what you’d like to do, set goals, create a plan, and take action.
What area of your life do you think you need to work on first?
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