Do You Work For Yourself? Don't Be a Bad Boss!

Working for yourself can be stressful, especially if you're still figuring things out, and particularly if your goal is to earn a full time living through self employment. The pressure to be successful is real and as a result you could be causing yourself unnecessary stress by becoming a bad boss.

Working for yourself it is important to be disciplined, making sure you're always progressing, but this can lead to expecting too much of yourself, which manifests as stress and a feeling of being overwhelmed.

If you're anything like me, you'll have a 'To do' list that is impossibly long with tasks you may have been going to do for years. (My task list is an app with more than 140 entries spanning years, and I'm still adding to it - and ticking things off every now and then too).

The thing to remember is YOU WORK FOR YOURSELF. If you're beating yourself up over not getting things done, not working hard enough, or just not meeting your own expectations of how much you can actually do - you're being a bad boss.

Think about it. You probably wouldn't work very long for someone else who was constantly on your case for what you didn't get done. You may have even left a job because of a boss like this? Constantly being stressed by what you haven't achieved each day is not good for employee moral i.e. you.

Being self employed can be hard work, even when it's going well, but can seem even harder when it's not. It is okay to be disappointed in yourself, as this may motivate you to do better tomorrow. However it is not okay to be disappointed all the time.

Make sure you take the time to review what you have achieved each day, no matter how small. Congratulate yourself on anything that went particularly well. Take a moment to feel good about anything you managed to tick off your To Do list. Essentially, be a good boss to yourself.

In the long run you'll achieve far more and feel less overwhelmed if you support your efforts and recognize your wins. That's what good bosses do.

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