Mastering the Art of Self-Evaluation

In motherhood one of the greatest challenges for me is being the one in charge. There is nobody to set your hours, or tell you what you must do in a day. Nobody is keeping track of the time spent on your phone, or reading to your children, or exercising. We are our own boss. I, personally, do not operate well this way. Yes, I am a "doer" by nature; you tell me the task and I will GET IT DONE. But self-motivation? Not so much.

In the early years of our mosquito control business we learned firsthand how important evaluations are. Our employees were consistently underperforming but we didn't know until after the customers complained. We didn't think much of the showing up late or finishing houses in record time (in a bad way). We wasted thousands and thousands of dollars on resprays and extra hours our employees were taking advantage of us and milking the clock. We were not evaluating our systems or our employees and we paid the price.

In our household it's the same. Without evaluation we fail to realize that the little things we let slip aren't really so little at all. If we don't check-in with ourselves and our systems regularly, a toddler talking back every now and then turns into a teenager who doesn't respect their parents and has serious entitlement issues. Our cell phone usage goes from mindlessly scrolling on instagram to struggles with contentment and a deeply disconnected relationship to our children and spouse. Some of the principles may be the same for motherhood as in business but the stakes are always higher.

There is nobody looking over our shoulder or keeping track of our progress, it's something we must do ourselves. Little things become big things, and I loathe being reminded of it but it's true- time is not something we are offered back. We must begin and end every day and season of life with intention. You have to first acknowledge and evaluate where you are to determine where it is you plan to go.

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I have created a template for you to perform your own self evaluation. The top one gives a detailed explanation to guide you through the process. This is something I believe should be done monthly, but whatever interval of time you think you'll stick to is great! Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments section!