I knew that going back to work, staying organised at home, building my business and sticking to my blog schedule was going to be challenging. I wasn’t wrong.

I’ve been back at work for just over a week. I’ve already missed two blogs, several networking opportunities and some business-building tasks that I had planned.

Between dealing with a family crisis, the baby being sick, and the strain that often affects a marriage during times of stress, my first week back at work was a mission of survival.

Very little sleep and lots of big emotions = irrational Emma. I started thinking it was time to throw in the towel. Building a business was a great dream, but too hard at this stage in my life. I was being unrealistic thinking I could manage it all… right?

Waaaaaiiiit a second….

Here I am, coaching other people on reaching their goals, and I’m ready to quit after one horrendous week? Wake up to yaself, boofhead!

What’s that? Another curve ball! Oh goody…

Life tends to throw us curve balls just when we think we’re going okay. Sometimes I feel like my life is one curve ball after another. You too?

Staying positive throughout the shit storm, and not giving up on your dreams and goals, leads to increased resilience and success. I’m not saying you have to be positive ALL the time.

When things really suck, you’re allowed to have a meltdown. Eat a bucket of ice cream. Stay in bed and cry all day if you need to. Rant to your husband about the fact that you didn’t ask for this shit sandwich but you’re trying your best to eat it anyway and he’s a jerk for making it harder and you know you’re a failure of a wife and mother and you may as well quit your dreams and he put the god damn butter on the wrong shelf in the fridge again. Ummm…. Where was I…?

Oh yes… have a meltdown if you need to. Feel sad or hopeless for a bit. You can even allow yourself to spiral down to the pits of despair. But don’t allow yourself to stay there. Give yourself a few days to get your head around things. And then get back to your goals.

Adjusting the goal posts

It’s great to have big ambitious goals. And you need to be clear about how you’ll measure your progress. If you’re not reaching your targets it’s time to assess why, and what needs to change. But this does NOT mean you’re a failure, or that you need to just be harder on yourself.

Sometimes it might mean you have to be gentler on yourself.

Maybe you need to tell yourself how proud you are of dealing with all the other things life is throwing at you. You might need to take some time out to recharge your batteries and take care of yourself for a bit.

But don’t allow all the other things to be your excuse for giving up. Instead, accept that your goal may take a little longer. It may not follow the exact path you planned. You may need to ease up on your expectations, at least in the short term. But keep making some progress, even if it’s slow.

Can you relate?

I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with staying focused on my own goals when other things in life are getting hectic. Have you been there? Are you there now? Are you thinking of giving up on something you’ve dreamed about because it’s just too hard? Tell me in the comments and let’s encourage each other to keep going.