Whether you are employed or have a business, knowing how to be your own boss can change your perspective on your professional life.
Being your own boss gives you control over your life, increases your independence levels, and can allow you to quickly develop in your career.
There is a difference between people who only wait for others to take action and people who do it all themselves and that difference has to do with the level of success among other things.
You can be your own boss even if you are employed. Having a manager doesn’t mean you can’t be proactive, set your own personal goals, or strive for more.
Having a business may seem like a thrill for some people, and like something totally overwhelming for others. We’re not all meant for the same job, and that is perfectly fine. However, everyone is looking forward to more: to get better, to be better, or happier. Being your own boss and having ownership of the things you do will help you get there.
We have put together a list of things that you can do to get ownership and be your own boss. These are all things that you can start today, and for which you don’t need weeks of prepping or to take a class for it.
Establish your own goals
Just because you landed a job or opened a business doesn’t mean it’s all over. You don’t only need to reach your company’s goals, you can reach your own in the meantime.
Having your own personal goals keeps you in touch with the way you develop. It makes you aware of where you are standing and where you want to be standing in the future. Goals should be as specific as possible. To start, try and write them down using the SMART method. It’s a great way to start as it has the “time” component, which will help you to see your goals clearly on a timeline.
If you are working in a nice organizational culture, you may communicate your professional goals with your HR or team leader. They should support you and help you with tools, courses, or tasks that will get you where you want to be.
Keep on networking
Networking is great, and you never know where your next opportunity will come from.
And this goes for employees as well as freelancers and business owners. Knowing people from different domains and areas can turn out to be of great advantage.
Imagine you are in need of some kind of service at work, and because “you know a guy” you save your company in a difficult situation. This is also good for you in the long term. Having a job doesn’t mean networking has to stop. Quite the contrary.
Have a schedule
One’s day can easily get hectic. You get a new project, you wake up to three new meetings in your calendar, or you just forgot about some task.
Having a schedule can help you with all this. A technique you can try is blocking hours in your calendar. Block two hours for creative work, one hour for administrative tasks, and so on.
Blocking hours in your calendar means that for that period of time you can focus solely on that task. no distractions, no emails, only emergencies. This can help you divide your day and time and get the most out of those hours as possible.
Keep learning and building your skills
A big trap of adult life is that we stop learning. We think that learning is only done in school, that we did our time there and now we know it all.
Constantly learning, reading news from your industry, and improving your skills can turn out to have a big impact on your development personally and professionally. If you want to be your own boss, you need to keep learning.
Be proactive
This goes especially for employees: being proactive can make you seem involved, independent, and a great asset to the company. You don’t always have to wait for your project manager to come up with tasks or ways to handle some of them.
You can propose new solutions, new ways of doing things, new clients, and so on. This will always be appreciated and can help you in climbing the company ladder.
More so when you have your own business. You can’t just wait for clients to come knocking at your door. You need to be proactive, and come up with solutions and innovative things.
Stick to routines
Routines go hand in hand with having a schedule. Our brains follow routines and like common things. Giving your brain a good and productive routine will get you through the day while checking as many things from your to-do lists as possible. Include healthy habits in that routine as well, like going for a walk, eating well, and so on.
Act like it
Act like your own boss if you want to be one. Sit down and write what you want, what are your goals and how you can accomplish them.
If you want to do it all from a neutral yet cozy space, try renting a Nooka for a few hours. Enjoy the nice view and the neutrality of the space while you focus on yourself and your development.
