As I am holidaying in France, I very quickly re-immerse myself in this country where I grew up. Being lucky enough to have a dual cultural background, I am always reminded and fascinated by the way each culture operates. And I like to borrow the best of each in various aspects of my life. Right now I can really witness different approaches to parenting, work and mindset. So I am sharing them with you, as they may inspire you or show you that there are always other ways. This may sound like a lot of generalisations, and for sure there are exceptions – but overall I trust that the trends are real.

Parenting is probably the area with the biggest differences. It feels like a cold shower when I travel to France with my daughter and watch my female relatives with their children. In France, there is a clear feeling that children aren’t the centre of their parents’ lives. They love their children like everywhere in the world, but are adamant about having space in their lives for social, work, couple and personal activities. So they use babysitters, leave their kids regularly play by themselves, and invest in childcare to work from home or see their friends. This is underpinned by the belief that by being a happier woman, they make a better mother.

In Australia, mothers tend to stay at home longer with their kids and approach parenting differently. But they are more patient parents, more dedicated to spending time with their children and nurturing them. Kids engage in group activities from a younger age and there is more of a family feeling throughout the year. The other side of the coin is that parents often feel guilty for wanting and having a good job, or for having time out. Overall the place of children in a woman’s life is different: in France it is one slice of the pie, in Australia it is the core center with the rest gravitating around.

So this flows naturally to the type of work life women have in both countries. In France there is a sense that you need to do something for yourself. Like being a mother isn’t an end in itself. This is about intellectual stimulation, but also out of personal self-esteem and pride. French women see themselves very equal to men, and like to contribute to the world through work accordingly. So they stay less time in maternity leave, and what their job actually is is quite secondary to the fact of having a job.This is allowed I must confess thanks to childcare support from the government. But there is a strong willingness to work, full stop.

In Australia, mothers hit pause in their careers for more years to focus on building their family. Then they can find it harder to return to the workforce. This is due both to the time they took off, and quite often a faltering sense of identity in their work. There are also less flexible working arrangements which makes work a bigger commitment for them. Nevertheless, Australian working mothers are a real force of nature when it comes to work. They are very hard-working, courageous and often not afraid to take risks. This translates into more entrepreneurs, more creative businesses and sometimes unfortunately some bottlenecks between work and lifestyle.

When it comes to mindset, again I notice deeply rooted differences. French women are generally more confident – about themselves, their entiltement to work, their abilities and about life in general. They don’t stress too much about the future, and prefer to enjoy the present. This can be borderline nonchalant. This relaxed attitude expresses itself from food, to time management, to money. It is great for holidays, but probaby not as good to foster productivity or personal growth.

In Australia, I find women more driven to chase goals – in that sort of striving attitude. They set themselves reasonably high standards and don’t easily complain when things get tough. Throughout their work, they love learning and improving. They are driven to achieve in multiple areas of their lives simultaneously. The only downside of this striving attitude is that at times they can get caught up in overworrying or in overwhelm. Because their expectations are quite high, they can get frustrated that the goal isn’t in sight as yet. Or that there does not seem to ever be enough time.

You get it, there are vast differences. The bottom line is, nobody has it perfect. Everybody simply makes different choices. And so you can choose too, starting today. You can choose to lower the bar and live a little bit more for yourself. Of you can choose to put your kids in care to get some solo time for your business or yourself.  You can choose to set career goals, do the work and push outside your comfort zone to reach them. Either way it’s refreshing to see that nothing is set in stone. And there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’. We are the creators of the rules in our lives – work, family and all. So don’t let society or culture dictate what’s right for you. Make it your own.