Things I’m ditching in 2025 as a business owner and mom.
2024 wasn’t easy breezy for me. There.. I said it.
I’ve been navigating what I want my life to look like as a business owner, mom of two boys and a wife. I know you’ll be just absolutely shocked to hear this buuuut… I didn’t balance things perfectly last year. And look, if you nailed it last year honestly I am stoked for you! This isn’t a woe is me pitty party. I just want to be transparent about where I’m at.
If you’re new here, hi! I’m Miranda Shirley, a Kansas-based website designer and social content creator for mom entrepreneurs and small business owners. I specialize in clean, one-of-a-kind designs that authentically represent brands and get them noticed online.
If you’re new here..
Hi! I’m Miranda Shirley, a Kansas-based website designer and social content creator for mom entrepreneurs and small business owners. I specialize in clean, one-of-a-kind designs that authentically represent brands and get them noticed online.
With all that being said, hopefully you can relate to some of the habits I took on last year. Let’s be honest, balancing work and home life is no easy feat. I feel like “balance” is a relative term and can mean something totally different from one mom to the next.
For the first few years of being a mom, I had this totally unrealistic idea of what having balance actually meant. So to preface this, I just want to make it clear…
Maintaining perfect balance 24/7 isn’t something I think is actually achievable.
I say this because if you’re a new mom you may have this amazing vision for getting everything checked off the to-do list all while caring for your baby and being the best wife making gorgeous meals every night and feeling fulfilled.
Will there be days like this? Maybe. But please, please don’t get caught up in thinking this is everyday reality. And you know what? That’s okay!
I’m laying it all out here. So if you feel like this helps, do me a favor and let me know on social media.
Here’s what I’m ditching in 2025…
1
The negative lies consuming my daily life that I made up about myself.
Man, this one is a little bit hard to type out. But this habit consumed more time in my day last year then I care to admit. Want to hear a few of the thoughts that swirled my head?
You’re not good enough. What a mediocre mom. You don’t cook at home enough. You don’t balance your life like other moms do. You’re way too messy. There’s plenty of better options than you.
Who the heck is this mean girl? There’s a special word for her, but we’ll save it for another time..
Enough is enough.
I’m done being cruel to myself and trading it for all the kindness and grace. No more beating myself up when I am nothing short of perfect. I’m resting in God’s grace and goodness knowing that he created me in His image. And guess what? I am enough and so are you.
If you’ve been the mean girl in your own story too, it’s time to ditch her. You deserve better and are so freaking awesome, truly. It’s time to write a new inner dialogue in your head.
2
Investing time in people who aren’t my people.
Sure, this can mean people who show up physically in your daily life. But I also want you to think about the people who show up on your feed everyday on social media. You may not think this has an impact on you, but trust me… it does.
I have been slooowly working on cleaning out my feed. It’s not like I follow people who are doing harm intentionally, but my space is sacred. So I’m really cautious of who I let influence me these days.
Be picky with who you follow. Think about how following someone makes you feel. Do you feel empowered or do you feel like garbage? Are you motivated when following them or devastated?
No one is going to hunt you down for unfollowing. Stop being so dang nice. Protect your peace.
3
Doing extra work and not charging for it because I feel guilty.
Wheeew… this one has been tricky. Overcoming the guilt I feel for charging for additional work I put in for new or past clients has been something, quite frankly, I still need to work on. I can’t count the amount of extra hours I’ve put into certain projects that I charged $0 because I felt like I couldn’t.
Here’s the thing… your time is valuable. The time you spend providing a service for someone is giving them extra time back. That’s worth something. And it’s unrealistic to do extra work without charging what you’re worth.
Here’s a few things I’m putting in place to help me keep clear standards with my clients.
Clearly stated terms in my contracts - including specifics about what projects include and the cost of additional work
Avoiding “scope creep” by including detailed proposals
There’s a learning curve here, but I’m getting better about setting clear expectations and not taking things personal.
4
Quantity over quality projects.
I want to preface this by saying that if you’re in the first year or so of your business, I don’t necessarily thing it’s a bad thing to take on a variety of projects of all kinds. But there does come a point where you realize who you want to work with.
In the business world, we call this niching (Nitching? Neeching? How the heck do you say this flipping word?!).
I’ve slowly been working my way into niching my ideal client and it’s made it super obvious to me who isn’t for me. Which I also struggle with because I want to help everyone in anyway I can. But sometimes the best way to help is to steer that person to someone else.
For me that means taking on less projects and choosing larger projects that really light a fire under me, challenge me and help me grow.
This year is the year for less quantity, more quality.
To wrap things up…
We’ve all got things we want to improve on in 2025, but I hope ultimately you realize that you’re an incredible person who is capable of amazing things. We’ve all got unique skills and gifts that set us apart. Use those gifts and trust that God will lead you this year.
A verse I’ve been holding onto is this one…
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
-Phillipians 4:6-7
Truly hope this helps encouraging you and we enter a new year. You’ve got this.
-MIRANDA
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