It’s Okay To Get Help Before You Need It

This seemed like a good follow-up to last weeks post about crazy summer schedules. Here’s a picture from the Sheryl Crow concert that was on last Wednesday’s schedule.
Years ago, I would go with the bare minimum of childcare during the summer. Thinking I would save money not paying for time I didn’t need, and then I would spend all of this wonderful time with the boys.
That’s not what happened though.
Inevitably things would take longer than I thought, and last-minute appointments would pop up that left me scrambling trying to find someone to help with the kids.
The result: cranky mom, cranky kids and not a whole love of fun going on.
I needed a new plan.
So I started booking the kids into camps or scheduled child care for more hours than I thought I needed. Initially it felt wasteful. I felt guilty because I wasn’t spending every waking moment with the boys, and I wondered what I would do with the extra time.
Here’s what happened though:
- The boys had way more fun at camp than tagging along to work appointments.
- I had space to breath and get things done
- I was more present and fun in the time that we did spend together
- I realized that my mom didn’t spend all of her time with us when I was growing up. She sent us outside to play or off to the pool. So my vision of what I was supposed to recreate wasn’t even accurate.
I caught myself slipping back into old thought patterns last week. (One of the funny things about Mindset is that old stories can creep back in, so you have to be diligent about directing your thoughts.)
I was sending our gal a note to book time based on the appointments were already had booked for the week. But, a voice my head kept saying “that’s not enough”. So I booked more time than I thought I needed.
You know what? It was the best thing I could have done. Lots of last-minute things came up and it was so easy to add them to my schedule without stressing about trying to regroup and figure out the kids.
Everyone had more fun last week because I was willing to get help before I needed it.
Asking for help is hard.
Paying for help can be scary.
I’m here to tell you that it’s one of the best things that you can do for your business, yourself and those around you.
If you already have help, find 3 more things you can delegate to them and take off your plate.
If you don’t have help, make a list of all the things that you need help with and then start listing all the qualities of the perfect assistant to make those things happen.
To your success!
Nicole
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