Having a child is hard work.

When we give so much of ourselves to ensure that our children are growing up healthily and happily, we can put our dreams on the back burner. But if you are burning with the desire to pursue your dreams and ambitions, but worry about being a bad parent by going for these, it is important to think of the following pieces of advice. 

Think About What You Really Want 

Sometimes we think that we want something when in reality, we want something else. We believe that our children’s desires come first and they take priority and our ambitions are secondary, or even irrelevant. But when you start to look at what you really want to do in life, is it something that is achievable? Some people have goals that they think are flights of fancy.

But whether it is flying lessons all working towards your dream career, you need to get a piece of paper and write down what you really want. This is the place to begin. Place this piece of paper somewhere that you see every single day and, over time, it will make you realize if you really want to do it. 

Attaching Value to Your Dreams 

You may want to be a great parent, but if this isn’t completely fulfilling your emotional needs, you need to attach more value to what you want to achieve. Some people have goals in life because of their children. Perhaps you end up pushing the things you didn’t achieve onto your children. But you are separate from your children.

You need to pursue your dreams with the same ambition and value as you would tell your children to. This means that sometimes we use our children as an excuse. When we are looking to achieve something in life, we need to make sure that we are dedicating enough time to doing what we want.

The thing about having children is that they can be used as an excuse to not follow your dreams. But there are so many people who have achieved what they wanted in life while still being a parent. If you are using your children as an excuse, you are going to blame them for not achieving what you have wanted all this time.

The fact is that there will be times when your children are asleep, giving you the opportunity to work on your book or build up your business. It requires a lot of work and chipping away at it, but if you use your children as an excuse, it’s your fault and nobody else’s. 

Take That First Step

We work hard to teach our children important lessons in life, and if they really want to do something, then they have to take the first step. But we seldom listen to our own advice. If you really want to put your dreams in motion when there are kids in your life, the fact is that there’s always a way around it.

At the end of the day, there is no other advice than to just do it. If you really want to pursue your dream, nobody is going to do it for you. And where there’s a will, there’s a way.

You might think that pursuing your dreams makes you a bad parent, but the reality is that having a dream will make you a better parent. It will show your children what it’s like to follow their dreams and inspire them.