Taking that leap to work for yourself takes courage. There’s the initial courage needed to make the decision, followed by a strength and determination to make it happen. But once you make it happen and are working for yourself, there’s another type of courage needed – the courage to be your own boss.
Last year it occurred to me that I’d been signing off my emails with ‘ Kind regards ’ for years. It’s something small that, as an employee, I’d always done and never questioned. As an employee, I did as I was told and adhered to the standards set out by the large corporate company I worked for.
Except now, I work for myself and I’m my own boss. And have been for some time.
Working for yourself takes courage – and a change in your mindset
It took me until last year to finally realise that, if I wanted to change my email sign-off, I could! But that small change took a lot of courage to implement. I needed to force myself to use ‘Best wishes’ – something I wanted to do, to empower me to be different!
The reason it took so much courage to do that, was simply because it involved a change in my mindset. I had to totally own the fact that I WAS my own boss. I had to adapt my behaviour to change my old employee-limiting beliefs.
What’s your version of kind regards?
So, let me ask you, what do you need to adapt, to feel empowered? What employee mindsets are keeping you away from totally owning your power? For me, there were several, but that kind regards email sign-off was the one that really made me sit up and take notice – to decide that I was the boss and could do what I wanted.
What behaviours can you change, to feel more ‘owner’ and less ‘employee’?
What other employee behaviours are you aware of, that you’re still using? Which ones are hard to undo – but are needed, if you want to move you from an employment to self-employment mindset? Are you honouring old routines, because they’re what you’re used to doing as an employee, or are you doing them because they’re best for you and your business?
Does how you dress, affect your mindset?
Another common habit we tend to make in our business is that of how we dress. Why do I always want to put on a corporate shift dress when networking?!? Do you have a particular ‘work uniform’ that’s your go-to on a daily basis? If you step into the boss role, does that change those perceptions of how you dress?
Who do you now need to be?
That simple change in my business, was the impetus I needed to totally step into my new role. I needed to become the owner and director of my own company – and that involved totally owning who I was, as a person. I can be me now and not conform! Who do you need to be, in order to say the same?
What habits have you identified that you’re using, that are hang-ups from your employee days? Have you a plan in place to change them and do you know what you’re going to change them with? Why not share your thoughts and plans in the comments box below!
Image © undrey/DepositPhotos.com