Owning It

Parents, sound familiar?
👀 7am wake up
🥣 Breakfast
🚗 School drop-off
🚦 Traffic + full workday
⌛ Miss pickup (kids = grumpy + hangry)
🍽️ Dinner no one likes
😡 Argument
🛏️ Flop on bed at 9pm
🚿 Quick shower
💻 More work
😩 Collapse... still no me time

Parental overwhelm often leads to parental guilt.

Many families today are stretched thin — both parents working, juggling schedules, covering rising costs, and doing their best just to keep up with mortgages and basic necessities. In the rush, we often miss the very moments that matter most in our children’s lives.

And when we miss those moments, guilt sets in. We feel like terrible parents. That guilt can lead to avoidance, and avoidance only creates more guilt. A cycle that’s exhausting, discouraging, and hard to break.

What would it look like to reimagine our schedules — even if it meant managing with less — so we could create more space for our children and break the cycle of guilt?

Do you think it’s possible?

𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬.

But they don’t come naturally to most of us — they certainly didn’t for me.

Over 20 years ago, when I started working, I dreaded feedback. It felt like criticism, and I resisted it. But over time, I realized something powerful: feedback is a gift. When someone takes the time to offer you thoughtful input, it usually means they care.

Once I started leaning into feedback, I became more attuned to how I was showing up — my tone, my presence, the energy in the room (social temperature, not the thermostat!). I began to "sense" situations better and avoid missteps more often than not.

Then, a few years ago, I heard a podcast guest say, "𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓."

That line stopped me in my tracks — because it’s absolutely true.

In leadership especially, self-awareness becomes essential. As you rise in seniority, the feedback loop gets quieter. Fewer people will tell you the unfiltered truth. That’s not cynicism — it’s just how power dynamics work.

Without self-awareness, leaders can be the last to know what’s really going on in their teams or culture — often when it’s already too late.

Let’s be clear: 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔.

It’s about being intentional, reflective, and receptive — not overly critical or defensive. It also means resisting the urge to respond immediately, especially when feedback doesn’t align with our expectations.

When paired with 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲, self-awareness becomes even more powerful.

Curiosity, when rooted in humility, creates space for others to speak up, contribute, and feel respected. It tells your team: “𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

And that kind of leadership? That’s magnetic.



What do you think of this?

𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝑨𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒂! 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑𝒔://𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒐𝒉𝒊.𝒐𝒓𝒈.𝒏𝒛/

𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦

I did a post last year and it blew up (well, it got over 20 comments)! The most amazing thing was that the comments all came from teens!

The post asked - "If you could tell an adult about what teenagers are like, or dispel a myth, or answer back to statements like "young people are just lazy, addicted to their screens, not motivated". What would you say."

I summarised the comments into 10 themes.

What do you think? What stood out for you?

Feel free to download a FREE Ebook I wrote as a result of this post : https://lnkd.in/gE9q6TpZ