I am a work-at-home mom.

I have my kids 24/7.

I have my work 24/7.

All my titles reside within my home.

The lines are often blurred between my own space and play area.

I’m constantly bombarded by requests from the kids, spouse, and clients, always needing my energy and time.

Many times I’m rocking a crying child in the middle of the night while finishing a deadline.

There have been days when I didn’t shower, brush my teeth, or eat.

My friends have gone days, weeks, months without my reply.

I’ve cried, yelled, and screamed, because I have a short fuse from exhaustion. I’ve gone some nights, literally, without laying down and closing my eyes.

My house has screamed at me to be cleaned and the laundry has piled to overflowing.

But, despite it all, I keep getting up every day and doing it again and again. This crazy, chaotic mess is my life.

I am a wife. I am a mother. I am an entrepreneur. None of these titles cease to exist, because I am tired and burned out.

This definition of mother isn’t unique to my life, but common for many, if not most, of us.

People ask how I do it all and quite frankly some days I don’t do it very well.

But that’s just the definition of life and motherhood. We do the best we can with the time and resources we have.

So, how do I get through it and still succeed for the most part?

How do I maintain my sanity, raise strong-willed girls, fulfill the needs of a happy marriage, hit my deadlines, and get the laundry folded and put away?

How do I maintain happiness?

There’s some things I do daily in order to achieve the balance I need and desire:

I mind dump, DAILY

I unload everything I need and want to get done down on paper in my planner. I have horrible handwriting, so it’s not pretty, but it gets the job done. I do this EVERY night before bed to know what I need to wake and accomplish the next day.

By writing them down, you can easily manage and refer to the task list throughout the day.

Does your list contain a million items? Lump them into the categories of your life and prioritize. Some days, you cannot do everything, but if the priorities are handled first, then you’ll be in good shape to conquer the next day, versus feeling deflated with defeat from the current one.

I have figured out the things in life that truly make me HAPPY

There’s a difference between doing things you must to keep your life running (and keep the kids alive), and doing things you pile on your plate for no reason that burden your mind.

What makes me most happy is greeting the day with my children, fulfilling my hopes and dreams through work I enjoy, squeezing in some self-care, and snuggling my husband at night, talking about our wild, productive day.

Sounds lame, but those are the things that truly fuel my fire and keep me going.

If your days are a constant passive and reactive existence, find out what drives you and seek it.

If that 9-to-5 grind isn’t cutting it, do some soul searching. If money is the worry, think outside the box, because guess what, it is limitless and only based on your perception of it. (Yes, I love money, and that’s OK to say.)

I’m going to let you in on a little secret about myself that seems quite contrary to what people perceive about me: I quit my corporate career on a whim one day with no plan and no money saved. I knew it didn’t make me happy, and my loving husband nudged me into the direction of happiness.

It freaked the crap out of me, because I think things to death, plan a million times over, and budget accordingly, but in this case, I went with my heart and sought happiness.

And today, five years later, I have two beautiful daughters, am running three self-fulfilling businesses, actually get to spend time with that loving and supportive husband, and I couldn’t be happier.

So, what makes you happy?

I have my goals divided into the year, quarters, months, weeks, and days

Seeing is believing, and I’m a huge believer in writing and pursuing outlandish and crazy goals for the sake of seeking success.

You have to ask yourself the one question you’ve been avoiding: are you living or just existing?

If you’re existing, this might be what your day-to-day looks like: You wake in the morning, scramble to get ready, drop the kids off, hustle about work like a madwoman doing menial tasks and half-listening at meetings, rush home, make dinner, get the kids into bed, maybe two, three, fours times, (because they rarely stay down after just once), then pass out on the couch watching the same episode of The Bachelor for the fourth time, because you still haven’t finished the episode that aired 3 weeks ago.

Sound familiar?

This isn’t living. Yes, you are breathing and moving, but you aren’t really living. You are stuck in the monotony of the things you think you need, and not fulfilling the things you desire.

So, today, (it’s perfect because it’s still January), write down your year goal. Then write down your quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals in order to fulfill that one goal this year.

If it’s insane, write it down anyway, it may not be as insane as you think it is on paper.

I’m a work-at-home mom (aka WAHM). I am fulfilling my dreams while raising my children, diving into the nitty gritty of entrepreneurship, while changing diapers and disbursing snacks.

I’m a woman who is becoming what I DESIRE rather than what others just expect of me.

I’m an individual who has the right to want and need things and then has the ability to go out and get them.

Is my house always perfect? No.

Are my kids always happy? (Are kids ever always happy?) No.

Is my husband begging for me to put down the laptop and spend time with him? He is literally currently doing just that.

This is my crazy, fulfilling life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Interested in putting these tips into action in order to drive your success and happiness? Fill out the form below to receive your FREE Fuel for Success daily worksheet to get started!