Autonomy

Are you an entrepreneur? Do you really have autonomy? This question hit me early in my career. I have always craved autonomy. I don’t think I make for a great employee. I love having ownership, or at least thinking I have ownership, of my decisions. Yet, I see many business owners, who like me, don’t always do a great job of leveraging their autonomy. They become just as controlled by their clients and calendars as any employee would.

That is why I have put boundaries around what I do. I limit how many clients I see. I have a time-slot reserved for mentoring and work my hardest not to deviate from it. I say no to opportunities. I have calendar blocks to ensure I do the things I want to do. It’s not always perfect, but I worked hard in my early years of entrepreneurship to set myself up to have the privilege of autonomy. I try not to take it for granted and have especially learned over the past 2 years that it’s okay to finish my day early some days and start late other days. I have afforded myself more grace while continuing to work hard on things (often at unorthodox hours).

Having autonomy and not using it often causes us to exhaust ourselves. If you are fortunate to have autonomy with your work, let’s make sure you use it to your benefit.