Working for Myself Full Time
What I know is that I’m a great boss. But, I can also be a not-so-great employee.
Why? 🤔
Because I’m still working on balance. It’s only been about a month and a half since I quit my corporate job to dive into Digital Unlimited full-time. In that time I’ve been overwhelmed, underwhelmed, confident, not so confident, and pretty much every other emotion that comes with being an entrepreneur.
Don’t get me wrong - I LOVE what I do. And, I’m great at it because I have a passion for it. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not human and I’m not unsure sometimes and feel like I might fail. I’m also not so great at balance - so I either work 12+ hours a day or I have zero motivation to do anything on my to-do list.
Going into business for yourself is tough. And I think the biggest lesson is that you don’t know how you’re going to feel about it day-to-day.
👉🏼 On one hand, I’m so proud of myself for taking the leap. I’ve worked very hard to possess the skills needed in the digital marketing industry and most importantly, I’ve tried my strategies with multiple clients and they’ve worked! I’ve always worked more than 1 job to make ends meet so working in a field that requires multiple clients and projects fits within my comfort zone. I’m honestly so happy doing what I do and I couldn’t do it the way I wanted to without jumping into it full time.
👉🏼 On the other hand, some days I’m in a creative rut and I can’t produce the quality of work that I want to. I have design blocks, writer’s block, inspiration blocks… all of the blocks. And, I can’t just snap myself out of it. So, on those days I feel less than amazing. But, I know I’m not the only one and that gives me a little glimmer of hope that the inspiration will come flooding back in.
The hardest part is not knowing when that ‘I can do anything’ inspiration will come back. As an entrepreneur working on projects of various timelines, time = money, so I don’t have days or weeks to get back on my A-game.
Here’s what I know for sure.
And I hope that this reaches someone in the same way it reaches me and gives me the encouragement I need when I’m in a weird place. I will always bounce back - AND, I will bounce back better than before. Only IF I give myself the space to feel uninspired, to rest, to recharge, and to go easy on myself.
Being in business for myself means that my time is mine. I can schedule time to work on projects when I’m at my best, I can go for a run when I want, eat when I want, go for a coffee with a friend when I want; it’s up to me. Yes, that’s a lot of pressure but I’m living life and working on my terms. I’m just learning what that really means. Balance and days off are a big, important part of being in business for yourself.
You can do it, too. Trust me. But, if you can learn from my experiences then please, take what you need!
Learn to go easy on yourself and give yourself time to adapt. If you’re not ready to jump into being on your own just yet, take a part-time job or do some volunteer work once a week to give you a change of scenery. Do what feels good to you so that you can feel better about the big change that full-time entrepreneurship is.
As I work on being a better self-employed employee, I’ll share what I learn along the way. It’s so amazing to be able to follow my dreams. It doesn’t mean I’m not overwhelmed or afraid of failure, but I will be facing all of that head-on - and I'm betting on myself to win.
I’d LOVE to learn from my fellow entrepreneur community, too. What are some things you wish you knew when you started that you’d share with others who are taking the leap?
