Why It's Sometimes OK To Be Selfish

When you took that first decisive stride from the “mom land” to “mompreneur land”, your life changed. You chose to make time for both your home and business priorities.

And when there are inevitable clashes, you may hear the whisper or the roar, “You’re being selfish!”

But the truth is you must be selfish—and assertive—to be successful in business and in life. You must be selfish in a healthy way.

Women, particularly religious women, often shy away from pursuing higher goals because of the inevitable strain between home and work demands combined with perceived limited resources. Consciously or unconsciously you may believe going for or acknowledging what you want leads to selfishness.

This fear of becoming “selfish” can be so big that many closet Catholic mompreneurs never “come out”.

But will your mom biz make you selfish?

Allison Sutton, a Life and Leadership Coach, says “no”. She always begins her work with her clients by asking, “What do you want?”

If you know what you want and go for what you want, you may feel confused if that is inconsistent with being Catholic. It may feel more like the world’s message to get what you want without regard to how that affects others.

Because of Original Sin, we must be vigilant about putting our desires ahead of God’s will and the needs of others.

But a regular prayer and sacramental life flushes out what is healthy selfishness from what is not healthy.

In digging deep to see if your fears of unhealthy selfishness are valid you must access the core DNA of who your Creator made you to be.

1. Don’t ignore the yearnings God gave you. What you want deep inside sheds light into the vision God has for your life.
2. Your inner wants are valuable clues to God’s mission for you.
3. God designed your mission to bring others to him.

Your unique mission likely will have an eternally positive impact on those God puts in your path. For what other reason would He give you a mission?

Don’t conclude that paying attention to your inner voice and deepest desires and taking action to manifest them is wrong or selfish,. You might be robbing from those individuals God intended you to touch with your gifts?

Slinking back into the safe confines of your regular life may seem like the unselfish thing to do. But trail blazing by facing and overcoming the challenges of putting yourself out there might be one of the most unselfish things you do.

The Catholic Mompreneur’s Life and Biz Tip: Not every mom is called to own a business, but if something is tugging you at your core, take the next step to discern that call.