As a parent, you get into parenthood without any prior experience. Unlike virtually any other job, they're thrown into it at the deep end and just expected to get on with it.
As such, it's one of those times in life when you grow rapidly. All of your rough edges soon get smoothed out because of the total sacrifice involved in looking after a child.
The good news is that you can grow as a person when you are a parent. In fact, it can accelerate your development faster than just about anything else. Here's how to leverage it to your advantage.
It's easy to be emotionally inflexible when you're not a parent. But once the baby arrives, it becomes much more challenging. You can't bend your domestic situation to your will. Your baby has other ideas.
That's why it's so imperative to be more emotionally flexible when you become a new parent. You don't want to be stuck in your old ways feeling more frustrated every day. It should be a happy, joyful experience for you.
Adjusting your emotion is challenging but when you develop the right attitude, it becomes significantly easier. For instance, you might want to keep them in the normal range when you feel angry or decide that you're going to feel more grateful about what you have.
When you're a young professional, you think mainly about how you can serve yourself. It's completely natural. But when you become a parent, things change. You have to commit yourself to another human being.
But what does that entail?
First, it means giving up your time. You need to be prepared to dedicate entire days to your kids.
Secondly, it means changing your environment to suit your baby and other young people in your home. Getting cots at Cuckooland and putting up child-friendly pictures on the walls is essential for helping them feel more at home.
Thirdly, it means avoiding the temptation to believe that your family is taking advantage of you when you serve them. They're not. That's just how parenthood works.
Another way to grow as a parent is to give more time and energy to your family. You want to focus on changing who you are and go through the grief of having kids. Remember, once they come out of the womb, there's no going back.
Many parents describe raising kids as "hard work." But if you can, you'll want to reframe this as "good work." After all, bringing new lives into the world is a wonderful thing that can really make a tremendous difference in your life.
Lastly, you'll want to become a life-long learner. You'll need to focus on educating yourself and being as curious as possible. If you feel a little lost sometimes, that's okay. It's all part of the process.
Remember, there are plenty of resources out there, many of which are right at your fingertips. Reading the right book can save you months of anguish and hard work.
