Working Women Wednesday - You Can't Do It All

Welcome to the premier posting of Working Women Wednesday.  As women we all wear many different hats, our hats are just a little different if we also work outside the home.  The focus of my Wednesday posts will be geared towards topics that will help women who work outside of the home but SAHM moms will hopefully glean some insights as well. 

When I'm not being a wife and mother, I'm a Director of an analytic/financial department at a billion dollar manufacturing company.  I'll be using my experiences to write about ;  balancing home and work, your image at work, climbing the ladder and leadership to name a few.  If there is something you'd be interested in reading about, please let me know.  I'm also interested in having a few guest posts so if you have a have a topic you would like to write about please send me an e-mail to wonderwomanimnot@gmail.com and we can explore some options.

I hope you enjoy the series, I'd love to hear your feedback.

You Can't Do It All

Is anyone else out there old enough to remember the Enjoli commercials?  They featured a breathtakingly beautiful, well dressed women singing "I can bring home the bacon!  Fry it up in the pan! And never, never, never let you forget you're a man because I'm a women!"  For some reason that commercial resonated with me as a kid and I remember going around the house singing it all the time.  I think that was the beginning of my Wonder Woman complex.  After all, if she could do it all why can't I?

I still occasionally break out in song but I've updated the lyrics.  They go something like this "I can bring home the bacon!  Sometimes fry it up in the pan!  And once in a while I'll help you remember you're a man because I'm a tired woman!"  Not quite as catchy but a little more realistic.

Ladies, I hate to be the one to tell you this but you have been sold a false bill of goods.  You can't, and shouldn't, try to do it all even though society has led us to believe we can.  Does that mean you shouldn't have a job outside the house and a family?  Absolutely not!  I do think you can have a successful career and a successful family life but that point is you can't do it all by yourself.  To truly be successful and happy you need a support system in place who will help you be successful.  The saying "it takes a village" becomes even more necessary if you are working outside the home.  Believing that you are Wonder Woman, when in fact you have no super powers, will only leave you worn out and exhausted.  However, there are ways to give the illusion of Wonder Woman by accepting help and learning when 'ok' is good enough.  While behind every successful man is a woman, behind every successful woman is a full team of people.

I'm sure if there are children involved, the decision to work outside the home wasn't made lightly or in a vacuum.  For some of us it truly wasn't much of a decision if we wanted to have food on the table.  However, it was a decision that we've made and we need to find ways to balance the different aspects of our lives.  We only have this one life to live so making sure that we lead it to the utmost fullest is essential. 

Next week I'll be writing about building the support system, hope you'll join me!

I'll be linking this up at Women Living Well, We are THAT Family and Day and Age Design

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