I love reading emails from women talking about their choice to become stay-at-home moms. Not all mothers find this transition easy. Some women who become stay-at-home moms struggle with the choice they’ve made because of how they were taught to assess their self-value.
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From a young age, women are raised to correlate their outside work experience to their self-worth. We’ve all heard female callers on my show complain about their husbands doing the same thing. “My husband’s whole identity is based on his work. He doesn’t know how to be a person,” they will tell me. Ironically, women are doing it too!
At work, you learn you’re valuable by receiving promotions, raises and compliments. None of these things occurs at home, unless you've wisely chosen someone who recognizes what you bring to the family. Some women, when they leave their jobs, begin to feel lonely and isolated without external validation.
Becoming a stay-at-home mom is difficult. The solution? Find alternative modes of satisfaction and identity.
1. Surround yourself with other women who’ve gone through similar experiences.
2. Immerse in a creative activity. Art has helped me learn new things about myself.
3. Volunteer your time. It is a way of finding self-worth by helping others.
4. Take care of your body. Working out is a great activity to help you feel better about yourself.
There are so many ways to feel valuable by doing things you love. If you feel stuck in a worker bee mentality, you’re limiting yourself. You're so much more than that.