Three of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions, Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. While going into business and working for yourself is highly glamorized, there are stark realities to it. There are a whole host of aspects and responsibilities an employee doesn’t face. The following contributed post is entitled, The Right Mindset for Successfully Working for Yourself.
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Transitioning from being an employee in the traditional sense, to “being your own boss” and running your own business, is certainly fulfilling and uplifting in many ways; but it’s also deeply challenging in many other ways.
While everyone generally likes to think of all the perks of being self-employed – things such as setting your own hours, and not having to be accountable to a boss you hate – there often isn’t enough attention paid to getting the right mindset and expectations in place, to actually make a success of the venture.
Here are a few mindset adjustments to make, in order to successfully work for yourself.
Everything is your responsibility now – so you absolutely have to plan and prepare accordingly
If you’re working as an employee for a large company, it is quite likely that such questions as whether or not the uniforms are made of antimicrobial scrub fabric, have nothing to do with you at all, unless your compartmentalised role within the company happens to be dealing with such issues.
When you are self-employed, though, everything is your personal responsibility – and you absolutely have to plan and prepare accordingly, on the assumption that no one else is going to swoop in and pick up the slack.
This means being as orderly as you can possibly be. It means having a very robust task and project management system, staying on top of your calendar, being punctual with appointments, and just generally being prepared every step of the way.
Your own level of discipline and grit will have a totally decisive impact on how successful you can expect to be
Being self-employed is hard work – and especially if you’re trying to create a new business from the ground up and make a success of it.
That being the case, you can expect that you will have to work long shifts on a regular basis, will have to push forward in spite of frequent frustration and disheartenment, and will have to exercise a level of grit and discipline above and beyond the ordinary.
The bottom line is that your level of discipline and grit will have a decisive impact on how successful you can expect to be. So, if you’re not ready to be your own taskmaster, you should probably either get ready quickly, or go do something else.
You are your number one resource and asset – so take your own health and well-being seriously
Although you will have to work hard and be organised, you shouldn’t fall into the trap that many self-employed people do, of running themselves absolutely ragged until a major “crash” results.
Remember that you are your number one resource and asset, and that you should be taking care of your health not only for its own sake (although that is, of course, self-evidently something you should do), but also so that you can continue to be the most productive and driven version of yourself at work.
What’s true for your physical health is true for your general well-being, too.
Eat good, nutritious food, make sure to get enough sleep, and have some fun when you can, in your free time.
