Guest blogger: “To have it all you have to sacrifice something”

I seriously don’t know how my fellow blogger, Karin Londt copes. She is a part-time student, who runs her own business and home schools her 10-year-old daughter. I asked her to guest blog for me to explain how she has it all – or does she?

Karin lives in the UAE (Dubai), has a B.Ed (Honours) and is currently doing a double Masters M.Ed in Educational Leadership and also MBA in International Management. Sjoe! That alone makes me tired.

Her daughter is doing grade 8 coursework, says Karin and is the motivation for all of this. “She is an only child and a girl. I have to model what I want her to be: driven, ambitious and hardworking.” I can SO relate to this!

Karin adds: “I also have to secure her future because no one else will.”

Before I give it over to Karin, here’s an introduction:

This South African woman has been living in the UAE for 13 years. She says she feels like she’s been in business all her life, but legally became an entrepreneur in 2010. Karin home schools since 2014. She is my accountability partner in blogging.

Karin, over to you…

Related post: How to stop leaving money at the table

The following is written by Karin Londt of Dessert Missus:

I don’t (feel like I have it all). Most days this feels like a lie, but I battle through it because I know what I want and what it will take to get it.

When Melissa asked me to guest blog for her I was hesitant. I don’t want people to think I can do it all, therefore, they can do it all. It would be dishonest of me. So I sat down and figured the best way to break the news.

What that something is will always depend on you. How valuable that something is, depends on you. How willingly you let go of the thing depends entirely on you.

So what do I do?

I’m a wife and mom.

I’m an entrepreneur.

I’m a student.

I’m a blogger.

I home school my daughter.

It doesn’t look like a lot does it? But boy oh boy, it is. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I sit down and cry. Except my tear ducts are so tired that all I get are tired puffs of dust instead of tears. Joke. But not. If you know what I mean?

Most of my days are very tightly scheduled. Fridays are literally my days of rest – I get to sleep in! I’m in the UAE so days run from Sunday to Thursday ( YOUR Monday to Friday) with Friday’s and Saturday’s as weekends.

Most days start at 4:30 AM so I can get some yoga or time on the stationary cycle in. If I don’t work out, I feel sluggish.

Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are class time so I travel 2 hours to Dubai( I live in Abu Dhabi) and 2 hours back to attend class. I don’t drive since having a near fatal car accident a few years ago, so I have a driver. I work on my readings and reports in the car. Or I sleep. Mostly I sleep. I leave at around lunch time so there’s plenty of time in the morning to get down to whatever needed to be done for class. I also chat to clients and schedule meetings during this time. This part of the week I feel like I have a phone permanently clasped to my ear!

On these days G has tutors coming to the house so she doesn’t fall behind in her learning. Her dad is home then to supervise and calls whenever there’s an issue.

Cooking is done on Fridays and Saturdays for the week, and cleaning is done throughout the week. I have a live – out maid for help with cleaning three times a week. Being a perfectionist doesn’t help. Laundry ( washing and ironing) is done when she’s there too.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are scheduled for blog interviews, client meetings and so on. Saturdays I spend mostly on my blog and write all the blogposts for the week. I curate ideas on the go during the week and just put them together on a Saturday.

I also schedule the Canva and Ripl posts I make for the week on Saturdays. By end of day Saturday all my blogging posts are done and scheduled. These are also the days I do active homeschooling with full on class ( I’m a qualified teacher) and activities. Outings are also arranged for these days.

I’ve got a few success coaching clients and meeting them once or twice a week.This happens either online or IRL. Luckily, I can coach from my kitchen table or I’d get nothing done. I counsel bloggers, business women and people who want to change their careers from 8-12 PM (my time) most nights. I have a few educational consultancy jobs on the side and that can throw a spanner in the scheudle if i’m not clear with what I can and cannot do. Most times these adult learning and/ or professional development programmes happen three nights a week at a local university or at the client’s offices.

Every evening we eat together ( at the table or in front of the TV), and I make sure I tuck G into bed each night. We spend some time chatting, reading or listening to podcasts before she goes to bed. Hubby and I will then spend an hour or two chatting, working together or doing what husbands and wives do. Most times we fall asleep on the couch while he’s rubbing my feet, or watching the news on TV.

I feel lucky to be alive in a time when work is changing in a sense. I can use technology to be so many more things and do so much more than my mom could do when I was a kid. I can work anywhere and at anytime. I can be there for my husband and child while working independently of an office. Of course being my own boss beats it all!

So what do I sacrifice? Well, I sacrifice the traditional for the new. I have let go of ideas of women, children and men in traditionally defined roles. I have sacrificed the comfort of a monthly paycheck. I am sacrificing family connections to make a life abroad. I am sacrificing but I am also redefining all these things. On my own terms.

I’d like to thank Melissa for asking me to guest blog for her. It’s been …cathartic.

Thank you Karin for sharing! We enjoyed getting a glimpse of your life.