Are We Too Hard On Ourselves? [+ video]

If I’m being honest I’m not in the best mood … haven’t been for a few days now … but I jumped on Periscope earlier and thought I could pose this question to my readers.

Are we being too hard on ourselves?

By “we” I mean anyone but specifically moms, business people, whatever you are that’s what I mean. The original catalyst for this topic came to me at the beginning of summer. As you all may (or may not) know, I am mom to a beautiful 4-year old son born with spina bifida and other special needs. He’s my only child and he currently uses a wheelchair and has some other delays. I’m his primary caretaker. Prior to this, I worked in Corporate America for just short of 2 decades, and now I am a digital entrepreneur producing content for myself and brands here on my blog and social media channels.

This year I really set out to try and see what my brand Glamazini could become after 4 years in survival mode with my son. I’m in several groups where other digital professionals are sharing massive amounts of information to build, educate, inspire and assist each other.

Honestly, it’s incredible to be a part of.

Then summer comes around and I see all these women in the groups saying they are going to take a break from their typical posting schedule so they can spend more time with their kids – or- their kids will be out of school so it would be distracting and difficult to produce content at the same level they did before school ended.

And it struck me that I’m being too hard on myself.

I mean, all these people are tapping out of their regularly scheduled program for the summer months underneath the guise that it is difficult to produce at a certain level when you have your children with you. Here I am, primary caretaker to a 4-year old with a myriad of special needs, thinking I’m supposed to be doing it all running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I am expecting myself to produce things in an environment where other people give themselves the grace to tap out.

These expectations are unrealistic to maintain consistently in excellence and these other women know that so they give themselves the grace to take a break when necessary. I have to admit I was not doing the same for myself (I’m great at giving grace to others), so I began to do so once I realized I was being way too hard on Roshini. I’m practicing being kinder to myself when a goal is not met, and ultimately setting more realistic goals within the confines of my real-life situation. I’m also practicing celebrating the small and big wins, every movement in the right direction is potential for a mini-party over here. I have to, it’s self-care, it’s wisdom, it’s realistic, it’s how I take care of me.

Anyhoodles, below is the entire Periscope broadcast for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to follow me at Periscope.tv/Glamazini so you don’t miss broadcasts and can interact with me live!

Watch directly on YouTube.