8 Lessons I’ve Learned In My First Month of Motherhood That Also Apply To Business
I had my first baby a month ago and let me just say…
I way over romanticized the newborn phase and was a little delulu about the time I thought I would have to maintain some sort of normalcy in our life.
It’s taken me a full month to adapt to our new normal and really feel like I’m figuring this thing out. I wouldn’t say that we’re fully in the groove of things yet, but we ARE getting there day by day and I can see a small glimpse of routine ahead.
And for me, that’s big. I THRIVE on routine. I’m a planner through and through and I need to know what to expect.
Now, I realize that life with a baby will always have curveballs and there’s no way to always fully know what to expect. Everyday is truly different and I acknowledge that. But I am so hopeful that we’re on the right track!
As I reflect on the last month, there’s a few common themes of motherhood that also apply to entrepreneurship.
So in honor of my first Mother’s Day I wanted to share 8 main lessons that the last month have taught me that I (and you!) can take into your business as well!
8 Motherhood Lessons That Also Apply To Business
No one really knows what they're doing
When I got pregnant, I of course landed on that side of TikTok and my feed was constantly flooded with lots of mom content. I saw moms living what appeared to be the perfect life with a newborn – taking stroller walks each day, going on coffee runs, snuggling their sweet babes each morning, singing lullabies – and I truly thought that’s what my newborn bubble was going to look like.
So you can imagine how surprised I was when that is NOT the picture that I ended up living for the first month. Instead, most days were filled with me crying at some point, covered in breast milk, longing for a shower, wishing my baby would let me put him down for .5 seconds so I could eat a real meal.
It was freaking rough. In the midst of this new reality of mine, I kept wondering why everyone else’s newborn phase looked different. How were they doing it?! What was I doing wrong?!
Until one day I realized… no one really knows what they're doing. And social media is indeed a highlight reel.
I know for a fact that those same moms posting their aesthetic stroller walks and coffee runs 100% had to go through the same things I was going through – but of course they weren’t going to post that (neither did I!).
From my experience, motherhood AND entrepreneurship is a trial and error situation. No one really has it completely figured out – and that’s okay. You test something, make tweaks, and eventuallyyyyy you’ll find what works.
Be willing to learn as you go
I don’t know my enneagram, but whatever number I am is the type of person who really likes to know things beforehand. I like to be planned, prepared, and fully ready for anything coming my way.
Going to a new restaurant? I will be looking up the menu and parking sitch before I go.
It’s HARD for me to acknowledge that I can’t possibly be prepared for everything before it happens to me.
When I got pregnant, I read LOTS of books, bought multiple courses, and watched a ton of videos to try to prepare for any possible scenario for when baby arrived, but I was humbled REAL quick.
While those things were sortttt of helpful, I’ve definitely learned more from just being IN IT. And the same is true in business.
You can take all the courses, read all the books, join all the masterminds, and hire all the coaches, but I can confidently say that you’ll learn more from just being IN IT and being willing to learn as you go.
Be adaptable
As your typical Type A girlie, you can imagine that I love a good routine and schedule. I’ve been this way my entire life. I can remember back to childhood, I would set my own alarm, wake up on my own, get myself ready, make myself breakfast, and tune into a pre-school episode of Arthur on PBS Kids… all before my parents were out of bed.
That routine didn’t change much as I got older, except the Arthur episodes turned into CMT music videos and eventually turned into me driving myself to school and leaving the house at the crack of dawn because I had hella anxiety about being late (still do).
While there’s nothing wrong with being a lover of routine and a schedule, the only sure thing about motherhood that I’ve learned so far is that no day will be the same. One day my sweet babe took a 2 hour morning nap in his crib so I could get ready and clean the house uninterrupted and the next he only took 30 minute cat naps while being held. So being adaptable is HUGE.
Same goes for business — while I do feel like you have a bit more control in this aspect, being adaptable is still key because you never know when your plan is going to laugh at you. As entrepreneurs, I think it’s easy to create an ideal scenario in our heads and then be discouraged when it doesn’t play out that way. But when you go into every situation knowing that it *could* go differently and have an open mind, that’s when you can truly enjoy the ride.
Let it be messy
The day we got home from the hospital, I was itching to get everything unpacked and get the house back in order. It literally pained me to sit on the couch and do nothing. And yes, I realize how ridiculous and crazy that is, considering I had just undergone an emergency c-section days before, was sleep deprived, and was trying to navigate this new life with a literal new human in our home.
It took me a few days to just embrace the messiness and let it be. I knew that it wouldn’t be that way forever and that eventually the house would be back in pristine condition just how I like it.
As cliche as it sounds, this is something that I often struggle with in business too — “messy action” they say. But when you’re a recovering perfectionist, that’s easier said than done. I’ve gotten WAY better about this in my almost 2 years of entrepreneurship because the truth is nothing will ever be perfect and you can waste a lot of time trying to make it that way.
I’m a big believer in constant iteration, which means being okay with B- work sometimes is okay, knowing that you can always go back later and refine your work into what you really want it to be.
Be patient
This really goes without saying, but no one needs you to be more patient than a precious, innocent days old baby. 👶🏼 Something I’ve been reminding myself that he’s learning how to be a human for the first time and I’m learning how to be a mom for the first time. He doesn’t have it figured out and neither do I quite yet. We both need each other to be patient and take things day by day.
Patience really isn’t my strong suit so this has been a huge challenge for me, both in motherhood and in business. In business, I often find myself wanting faster results and quick wins. But that’s just not always — really never — how it works, so embracing the slow and steady is something I’m constantly working on!
Accept the help
Again, super cliche, but so dang true especially when it comes to birthing a baby. And I’ll be honest… I didn’t think I would be one of those people who wanted lots of visitors or meals being delivered to my house.
I’m typically the type that just prefers to figure things out on my own. But those first few weeks of being home from the hospital were like groundhogs day and it helped SO much to have visitors lined up to look forward to. Yes, they really just wanted to see the baby, but they also all brought a meal and that was life saving.
When it comes to business, I’ve always kind of been one of those people that thought I could do it all. And I *mostly* can… but that doesn’t mean I SHOULD. I learned real quick that if I truly wanted my business to grow and thrive, I needed to accept help in various capacities. So I’ve strategically invested in various services to help me in my business – here’s a list of some of my faves!
Don’t try to be everything at once
This one goes hand in hand with accepting the help. My personality type wants to be the person that does it all.
I want to be the good mom that freaking rocks motherhood…
while also being the amazing wife that cooks dinner every night and keeps the house clean (unpopular opinion probs, but the house wife life is the life for me)...
while also being a business owner that’s always on top of it…
while also being the friend that’s always checking in…
and an A+ sister and daughter.
And I CAN be all of those things! But not all at the same time. Some days I’ll be heavier on the good mom, but drop the ball on wife duties. Some days I’ll be killing it as a business owner, but slacking in the friend department.
That’s just the way the cookie crumbles and that doesn’t mean that I’m failing at any of those roles. And it doesn’t mean you are either when you can’t be everything at once in your business. It’s quite literally ~impossible~ so give yourself some grace my friend.
Be where your feet are
To wrap up all of these, I think the biggest lesson that motherhood has taught me is to be where my freaking feet are. I’ve caught myself so many times wishing for easier days – days where the baby doesn’t need to be held 24/7, days where we have a more predictable routine and schedule, days where I finally feel like myself again.
And then immediately after having all of those thoughts I find myself so guilty for wishing it away, especially since we’re only one month in. I’ve never understood what people meant about “mom guilt” until now, but MAN is it real.
Now when I catch myself having those thoughts, I remind myself to just be – I mean heck, just a few weeks ago on Instagram I was giving people that exact reminder.
I know I will miss the days of endless baby snuggles, I will long to hear his sweet little newborn coos and see his newborn scrunch, and I will want one more night of him needing his mommy to settle him back to sleep.
The same goes for business – allow yourself to be where your feet are. We all want more, more, more, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but what are you possibly missing by focusing on the future all the time instead of soaking in the present?
That’s the question I’ll be asking myself from here on out – both in my personal and professional life.
If you’ve read this far – mom or not – I hope you take something from at least one of these lessons that I’ve learned in the last month. And if so, I’d love to know which one resonated the most. Drop me a line on Instagram!
🫶🏼HERE’S TO MOTHERHOOD AND MOMPRENEURS – I don’t care how cheesy that sounds. I truly have a newfound respect for all moms out there doing the dang thing.
It’s not easy and I’m tired of TikTok making it look that way.
You’re doing amazing sweetie. 💖
New to my world? Nice to virtually meet ya. 👋 I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Natty (you can too) – blog and email writer for creative business owners and service providers.
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