Have you ever dreamed of starting a business? If you’re a stay-at-home parent, or for that matter any kind of parent, you might be unsure about your ability to manage what you’ve already got on your plate, much less consider starting your own business.

Which is exactly why I’m writing this today. I’m living proof you can have it all. When my kids were first born, I was logging 60- to 80-hour work weeks and basically letting a stranger raise my kids.

Not only did that lifestyle and the stress lead me to an early heart attack, but hello… someone else was raising MY kids! All I’d ever wanted growing up was to be a parent. I dreamed about it, prayed about it, constantly.

Look, I’m here to tell you, you don’t need the 60-plus hour work weeks. In fact, you don’t even need a 40-hour one, if you don’t want it. Unfortunately, there is a real disconnect in our culture where more money or career freedom have become inseparably linked with longer work hours. If that isn’t daunting enough, you’re juggling parenting – a whole other full-time job – on top of it! And that’s a real problem, and it’s only getting bigger every day.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! More hours do not make you more productive; in fact, in some cases it makes you less productive. When I decided I WAS going to have it all, I made up a schedule for myself. I would spend 4 days at home with my kids and family – totally focused on them.

And then the other 3 days I would put on my “work-people” clothes, go to the office and devote myself totally to that work. Often our focus becomes so split, the more hours we work, the more stress it can actually cause. As soon as I cut my hours, I focused on nothing but what really needed to get done.

 If you’re feeling overworked, under-appreciated or like you have no time to even set goals – let alone achieve them – maybe it’s time you should invest in developing some basic success skills.

How do you juggle your business and kids? Let me know! Because I’m here to say, you can be living proof that we can have it all. Do you know any stay-at-home parents who could use some encouragement? Share this message with them! Just “Like” and “Share” so we can start raising appreciation for the importance of every job.

What are you doing this afternoon? Why don’t you join us on The Dani Johnson Show at 12 pm ET/11 am CT today. You can tune into the show on either your TV or radio and please remember you can always stream today’s show right on our website.

In great faith,