Sometimes Not the Boss
You are a freelancer, you are an entrepreneur, you are running your own company. Great! Are you your own boss? Are you running the show? Are you the best you can be?
I recently had these thoughts and questions. And wondered one specific thing: is it reliable if I am my own boss? Wouldn’t it be helpful if there were someone else, external motivation, someone I have to be accountable to?
Working for myself, in my own business, my hours, my projects, and my clients is great. But! It comes with its own sets of challenges.
I tend to let myself slip off the road a lot. I tell myself I will publish an article every Tuesday, and I don’t keep that schedule. I put myself up to send out a Newsletter once per week, but I don’t get myself to do it on time. I know many of the reasons. I give myself al the excuses. But why? And why am I able to stick to a schedule when I am working for someone else?
Turns out, the motivation factor or external accountability is huge. I started to contemplate accountability partnerships as well but that’s a story for another day. But what I have come to is a realization:
Sometimes you have to imagine you are not the boss of your own company or life. There is someone above you making the rules. Giving you tasks that you may not like. But in the grand scheme of things the combination of the fun and the tedious will be fruitful!
This shifted my mindset about decisions I make and deadlines I set for myself. Considering them as if they were arranged in a team meeting between me the worker and me the boss. The boss is the visionary, the guy that comes up with plans, pushes myself to the limits, and out of my comfort zone. That’s the guy who shows up when I am stoked, hyper-motivated, and enthusiastic. But then the tasks are handed to the ordinary version of me the worker.
In my own company, I am my only employee. I am the only one to do the work, to get the job done, and I am accountable to nobody but my readers, clients, and to my me the boss.
This construct of thought hasn’t made me stick to all the deadlines yet (this post coming out on Wednesday for example). But it’s helping me to look at everything I do through a different lens. It helped me create a schedule for work hours, and get into and out of bed on a schedule. It also gave me the frame of mind to put my head down and get to work on the tasks that need to get done. To build the vision that I have set to grow towards.
How are you getting yourself to stick to your own deadlines? Make your personal goals happen? Connect with me and let’s have a chat.
I appreciate your attention! But for now you reached the end. Please hit that clap button if you enjoyed what I shared, found it thoughtful, or inspiring. It truly helps a lot.
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Originally published at makeityour.life on February 14, 2018.
