Over at Famlies.com, Kori Rodley Irons champions the idea of "acting as if" with your home business. Also known as "fake it till you make it", this strategy involves acting as if you’re successful. I’ve heard this advice time and time again in career management circles. Kori suggests:
Celebrate all the little achievements and start telling yourself what a great and fabulous job you’re doing
This is a fantastic strategy. People who beat themselves up all the time have a lot harder time. I remember one consultant I knew who was a full-time stay-at-home mom and a consultant for the government. Even though she was pulling in around $500 a month — more than enough to cover a car payment and insurance — she considered herself a failure. She constantly talked about how she was "doing nothing", "had no career" and so on. She eventually gave up, put her child in daycare for $1000 a month, and took on a job that paid $2,000 a month before tax. After paying for daycare and transportation, she was actually making less than she had as a consultant! And she was still really unhappy with her career — still is, even though it’s been a couple of years now.
Imagine if this consultant had told herself a different story! When I looked at her, I saw a talented person who was providing excellent childcare, continuing her career, building a business and charging a high hourly rate. $500 a month is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you have next-to-no business expenses (starting a consulting business is cheap) and you can achieve work-life balance.
Are you acting as if? Accentuate the positive. You don’t need to tell yourself lies, but you don’t need to point out all your faults, either. Count your successes and work to improve on your weak points. What more can you ask of yourself?