There is not anyone among us who hasn’t wished at least once we didn’t have a boss or bosses dictating our day. That we could set our own schedule, make our own decisions or even determine our own worth and take time off whenever we wanted! Yes, simply dreaming we could take a day off when we wanted versus needing to save up time and get approval in order to take a day off. When these thoughts start to come up for us maybe it’s a hard time at work right now, our boss is on a rampage or we’re just tired. It may even be time to look for another job or do something completely different. We may never act on that change but we cannot honestly say it never crosses our mind. The truth is we often feel tied down by our jobs.
One of the times this happened to me, I started thinking of what it would look like to be my own boss. I was tired of my boss riding my backside non-stop lately and it was just one of those phases we all have at work. For relief, I started envisioning my days doing what I enjoyed, having flexibility to take an afternoon off and having a full hour for lunch. I seriously cannot remember the last time I had a full hour lunch break. Oh to have less stress, more time and a comfortable salary reflective of what I thought my worth and value really were. The constraints I was feeling in my current job were not what made me feel valued or appreciated. Work, while it's necessary didn’t have to be miserable or limiting did it? I was smart enough, capable and motivated so why not?
According to the Small Business Bureau there will be over 1 million new businesses started by individuals this year. Most of these will be small businesses started from a desire and dream of being our own boss. People like you and me who are tired of the corporate ladder, political corporate landscape that is insecure and unreliable. People pursuing job freedom. They just want to be their own person, doing something they love rather than something that just earns them a paycheck. They are chasing a dream for a better life. A life designed by them.
The motivation to be our own boss, forge our own path and earn our own pay drives many of us to try our hand at starting our own business. Having a craft or hobby that you can sell the product for some extra cash. Fixing things, making things, selling something or doing a service for another. All of these things can be opportunities that provide us that window of possibility. We get a taste of freedom doing something that inspires us. Whenever one of my quilts sells I act like I just won the lottery and feel a pure joy at being able to have earned something from the work of my own creation. Any time a new client signs with me for support on their natural health journey I feel a surge of energy that is so uplifting I don’t know that I will ever touch the ground again. These feelings are not the responses I feel in my body when I am given a new project at my corporate job.
To be clear job freedom is not a freedom from not working at all but rather of living naturally to what you were intended to do for work. It is the ability to create, teach, fix, support and be of service to another through our own motivation, desire, and soul level need. It is indeed being our own boss with the flexibility and responsibility to see the needs of our business met, our clients served and our dreams fulfilled. It is waking each morning knowing we are about to do something meaningful, important, inspiring, uplifting, creative and world changing to our clients, community and ourselves. It is still however very much work and at times heavy work done alone.
I have often referred to my own business, Dragonspit Apothecary, as my garden to grow job freedom. Like most gardens it is not always a ready to be planted in patch of ground. Growing job freedom is not overnight get-rich-quick ideals. There is a lot of time, money, sweat, tears and tests of our will involved. It is something that will have you question your very own sanity at points. This is where you hear the inspiring quotes of not giving up, remembering your why and being consistent come to mind. What I have found the most helpful though is maintaining the focus on job freedom. That small taste of it with each sale, each new client, each returning client, hits to my website, likes to my social media posts and so on are the daily reminders to keep going.
While many of us will dream of freedom, I invite you to consider if it is really job freedom you are seeking. I believe it’s not a matter of actually working but in what we are working at that makes the difference. Are you seeking a way to live life on your own terms in all that you do each day? Are you looking to have your soul filled with things that inspire and uplift you rather than just drain and weigh on you?
If you think you want to explore what it means to work naturally on your terms designing this life that you dream of start with my New Leader Assessment. This will help you know where to start and what is speaking to you to obtain true job freedom: https://forms.gle/qyFNYq3pVnVmtxrKA