- Success Has Many Forms
- 1. Understand What You Can Do Better Than Others
- 2. Balance Responsibilities Until Desired Occupations Win Out
- 3. Inspire Yourself By Following The Stories Of Others
- 4. Always Seek To Improve What You’re Doing
- 5. Learn How To Balance Personal Discipline
- Being Successful On Your Terms
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Success Has Many Forms
One person’s success is another person’s worst nightmare. Do you know some individuals who make an excellent living in waste disposal? They identify a community need, fill that need, then continue to expand until they’re essentially managing the business they began, and seldom have to get their hands dirty like in the beginning.
If you’re going to find your way to success, you need to keep in mind that “work” isn’t always fun, and it’s not always convenient. But wherever there is hard work, there will be profit. Of course, the profit could be collateral—it might just be the knowledge you pick up along the way. Even so, profit is profit. Whether yours is monetary or in terms of information, you’ve benefited.
The big thing to remember is that you should never give up. Just keep on keeping on, as the saying goes. Attrition tends to be the greatest enemy of success. Never give up. Here are five tips for becoming successful at being your own boss.
1. Understand What You Can Do Better Than Others
Are you a good writer? Do you enjoy landscaping work or gardening? How about children; are you a young lady who can resonate with young blooming minds well? Do you find you enjoy certain chores owing to the cleanliness that results from sweat and elbow grease? Do you love to drive?
Once you’ve figured out what you like and what your talents are, you can see what kind of work is available to you. If there is none, make your own niche. Perhaps pay for an LLC, or barring that, just start hawking your services to communities in need. As you do what you do, you’ll learn to get the job done more efficiently. Identify a niche, and fill it.
Dreaming of being your own boss? Dive into our guide for practical tips and inspiring success stories. Start your journey to independence and entrepreneurial success today! #BeYourOwnBoss #BusinessSuccessClick To Tweet2. Balance Responsibilities Until Desired Occupations Win Out
Once you know what you want to do and you start doing it, your next move is to balance existing responsibilities accordingly. Bill Watterson, who wrote Calvin and Hobbes, is a great example. Watterson worked professionally for a variety of newspapers, doing work he didn’t like so that he could also pursue his passion for being a cartoonist.
When the comic strip he wrote became profitable, he was able to stop the other work and focus on the strip solely. He determined this time by looking at his income. When his income from Calvin and Hobbes matched (and soon exceeded) his other means of income, he realized he could give up the menial work and focus on “the good stuff.” You can do the same.
3. Inspire Yourself By Following The Stories Of Others
This dovetails perfectly from point two: find those who have done well securing their own niche and making it profitable. Then, model your personal trek after theirs. One excellent resource for self-assured, self-employed, successful people who have found their own way in life is a podcast called the Kara Goldin show, where such individuals are interviewed regularly.
4. Always Seek To Improve What You’re Doing
It doesn’t matter how good you are at what you do, or how long you’ve been doing it, there will always be room for improvement. Are you perfection incarnate? No, no you’re not. Nobody is. So don’t think you’ve ever hit the “ceiling” of improvement; no one can. Others may not be able to do what you do as well as you do, but you can always improve.
The more you improve on yourself, the more effective your business will be. Granted, you don’t want to push it too far and burn yourself out—there’s balance in all things. But don’t let yourself settle into a routine that implodes your ability to be effective, either.
5. Learn How To Balance Personal Discipline
Being your own boss, and being successful at it, will likely mean working longer and harder than you would if you were simply someone else’s employee. That’s going to make you tired after a while. You can’t stop pushing yourself, but if you push yourself too hard for too long, you’re going to burn out. Learn to balance personal discipline with necessary rest.
As a general rule of thumb, you need to find a way to take one full day off at once a single week. Just as you need sleep every night, you’ve got to “turn your brain off” once a week, or you’re going to burn out quickly.
Being Successful On Your Terms
Learn how to balance personal discipline, seek to improve what you’re doing, inspire yourself through others, balance existing responsibilities, and find what unique skill(s) you have that may provide an advantage over others.
These are the basics of entrepreneurial success in a way that lets you truly be your own boss. Finally, the process takes time, so don’t give up. Be persistent.
The Self-Employment Survival Guide: Proven Strategies to Succeed as Your Own Boss alerts you to the challenges involved and provides proven strategies for surmounting these obstacles and succeeding.
