Do you ever look at other women and wonder how they do it?

Do you ever look at other women and wonder how they do it?

Me too. All the time.

I know I shouldn’t, but I do. I know it’s harmful and futile, but sometimes that vulnerability just creeps in, you know?

I’ll give you an example. There’s a well-known parent blogger whose work I really respect. She’s making serious change happen and I’m a massive fan. Our focus is similar, but we’re not doing the same thing.

On the face of it, she’s doing really well. Fast-growing following, amazing engagement and tonnes of opportunities coming her way (which she’s made happen and thoroughly deserves, of course).

I’m so pleased that she’s becoming so successful, but I can’t help but compare myself and my work to her.

She’s hilarious. She’s beautiful. She’s strong, confident and a phenomenal woman and mother. She’s a rock star.

Looking at her makes we question whether I’ve got what it takes to do this. Can I really make Mumbelievable a movement that not only lasts but creates good change in the world? What if I’m not good enough?

This brilliant woman is also courageously honest. Recently she published what she’s earned so far since she started her blog, and it was well below what you’d have expected. Barely enough to live on.

It made me love her even more. She’s breaking down perceptions and showing in a very powerful way that the pixels don’t tell the truth. They’re fake news.

We all know that social media is poison to our sense of self if you take it at face value. Our online and print media consumption, interest in celebrity culture and trust in what we see as being the truth is affecting us more than we know.

That life, the life we’re shown does not exist. It can’t; it’s a highlights reel. Minus the bloopers. We all know this, and yet still we hold ourselves to this unattainable ideal of what we should be striving for as women and as mothers.

We’re basing our goals on something that DOES NOT EXIST.

We pressurise ourselves to achieve this perfect, stress-free lifestyle that is based on lies. Which means we’re doomed to a life of never being able to live up to our own standards.

It’s time to stop allowing external sources define what our ideal is, to take back control and define it for ourselves – based on what is truly important to us.

There are loads of simple ways to do this, and we can start by looking at the external sources (social media, TV and gossip columns, advertising, friends, colleagues, etc ) that are contributing to your sense of self. If you’re feeling like you’re not quite as happy as you’d like to be, I’ll bet my life that these kinds of things are affecting you in some way and you may not even know it.

These issues affect us all, and it’s time to make it stop.

We go into much more detail about this stuff in the first module of our brand new online programme, Return to Work with Confidence. If you’re a working mum or you’re thinking about going back, this programme will transform the way you feel about yourself in every area of your life.

Check it out here: http://www.mumbelievable.com/online-programme