Are you a pushy parent, forcing your children to do the activities that you wanted to do? Making them do all the things that you’ve missed out on?

There’s a handful of reasons why parents do this – they know keeping busy with activities reduces the risk of your kids getting mixed up in the wrong things, you see an extension of yourself in your child, or you have unfulfilled ambitions that you want your child to live out for you.

There is absolutely no better joy than being a parent. It’s by far, one of the best things that we will ever do in our lives. But unfortunately, as parents, we tend to put our dreams on the back burner, and as a result of this, we have regrets or force our dreams onto our children. 

It feels as though it’s something that is expected of us when we give birth. Our lives have to completely change and this little bundle of joy has to be the center of our universe.

But there’s a problem with this belief. Our children will eventually grow up, they become independent and begin relying on us less.  Then they go to college, get married and start a family of their own. 

And now you’re left with a ton of free time and regret. Although it’s never too late to go back to school or start a business you might not have the same energy to get it going at this point.

This will prove to be your biggest regret, in fact, 76% of parents say that they regret not going after their dream. You regret not finishing school, not starting that business, not hiking the Appalachian Mountains, not writing that book, and this list can go on and on,

Listen, your life doesn’t stop because you had children. You can still be a good parent and go after your dreams of being a teacher, writing a book, or starting that business.

The only thing being a parent will do for your dreams is possibly making obtaining that dream a bit more challenging. And it’s likely that the route you planned on taking to obtain your goal will look differently, but it’s definitely not impossible.

And something that you should begin working on. 

Your personal dreams shouldn’t come before your family and part of being a mother is about sacrifice, right. Of course, if your personal dream is to hike the Appalachian mountains for a year then yes you’ll have to sacrifice that dream for a while. But there’s another option – you can do a week long trip every year hiking part of the mountain and picking up where you left off the following year.

There are literally hundreds of “valid reasons” why you should put your dreams on hold.  But these are excuses. Fear is by far one of the biggest factors. You’re afraid to fail at your dream and fail at being a parent. But what if you succeed. Imagine telling your children when they grow up how you didn’t let anything stop you from going after what you wanted. 

There are endless possibilities whether you’re looking to make money, start a business or continue your education to become a school teacher. So there’s no reason that you cannot finish going after your teaching career when you can get your California teaching credential while sitting at your kitchen table and become a virtual teacher.

There’s no reason you cannot continue doing the job that you love doing. You’re not a bad parent for loving your job. And sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too, there are hundreds of remote jobs that allow you to stay home while still earning an income

The last thing that you want is for your unfilled dreams to affect your children’s lives. We’ve watched tv shows and movies about this. Parents live their dreams through their children, by forcing them into activities that they don’t enjoy. Fathers pushing their kids into sports they don’t want to play, mothers signing them up for activities they wished their mothers signed them up for.

But these children are forced to do things that they have no interest in. 

So grab a cup of coffee or tea and start coming up with a plan to obtain your goal.