Is working for yourself better than working for someone else? That is a question I get asked many times. Today I was so happy to be working for myself as I worked around my schedule and took a lovely break to lay out in the glorious sunshine. But what about the days when the sun is not shining and your schedule is all over the place?
Life and work can be a balancing act sometimes
There are pros and cons to many things in life and being your own boss has them too. They are different for everyone depending on their work and it sometimes can be a balancing act.
For me I feel blessed to be able to work from home, seeing clients in my little healing room and also going out to work in different centres to facilitate my groups classes or workshops. As I type this I think to myself "Yes, Sharon you do have it good", but I also consider the many hours I spend on being the CEO, the Marketing Manager, updating clients, website technician and endless amounts of calls, email and texts to answer on a daily basis, this goes hand in hand with me also being a Mother and a housewife. When I choose to book a day or week off it is at my own expense and no one covers your breaks with holiday pay. So how can you balance it all?
For any business to succeed you must have a dream or passion inside of you that excites and motivates you to fire ahead every day with enthusiasm and energy. Most businesses starting off put in copious amounts of hours before they launch a product or their business to the public and this takes great dedication and perseverance, not to mention a whole lot of their own personal finances. it can seem very frustrating at times and you may feel like giving up, but if you keep telling yourself that you are going to keep trying, asking for support when you need it, you will start to see the rewards. There are many ways to network your business and social media has a huge role to play in getting your business noticed. For me it was about taking off at a slow pace with six people around my dining room table and my business grew by word of mouth, of course the more people that know about you, the more your business has to shift and change, and you along with it. So how do you know your business will take off and how can you keep on top of everything?
You don't, you just believe! My two favourite words for years are 'trust' and 'believe', I too had days where I just wondered why I ever started, but then one client or one class of amazing people that day would perk me right up and I would know that I was on the right path. Don't get me wrong, there are many days when you wonder where your next few euros is coming from and there are no guarantees, but for me it wasn't always about the money, it was about living my passion and sharing it with others. Of course I have to be practical and charge a fee, it covers my costs and pays my taxes and insurances, but overall it is the love of what you do that outweighs the financial gain, but I still need to earn a living. I love what I do and do what I love.
There are many people that are all about becoming the next millionaire and there is nothing wrong with that except making money is not always the be all and end all for me. To me being with people has always been my motivator. To sit and listen to a client and to be able to guide them on their journey is the greatest reward I could ask for, seeing them heal from pain and go on to become happier and more fulfilled individuals is to me like winning the lottery. My work is part of who I am and has allowed me to grow as a person in so many ways. In a way my work and the people I meet each and every day have been my greatest teachers and some lessons in life can only be learned from experience.
That is my own personal view on me being self-employed, there are many people in business that set out at the beginning maybe selling product or to gain as many followers as possible, I am a little bit more grounded in that I want to be in touch with the people that follow me, I try to connect with them as often as possible and that keeps my feet on the ground. We can all get carried away and let our heads float off into the clouds at times, me included, but like everything in life, you have to go with the flow and if your path in life is to speak to tens or thousands, you will be guided that way. I am allowing myself to be guided whilst trying to keep a balance in all areas of my life. The one thing about being self employed is that you have to be very disciplined and also know when to turn the phone or laptop off, not always easy when your business depends on those calls from day to day, but I have found that most people will wait until the next business day for you to reply if they really want to see you. I just have to remember that too!
So every individual will have their own pros and cons for being employed or being self-employed, to me I am so blessed to have the choice. I can work around my teenage kids and take my holidays when I choose. Today I could lay out in the sunshine and take to the keyboard when the sun went in, always my choice. I know there are many people out there that don't feel they have the same choices due to financial stresses, but believe me I have them too, I just don't get too caught up in them anymore. I still trust and believe that I will make the mortgage each month and that my kids will have shoes on their feet for the next school term.
Being your own boss is not always the glamourous life it is shown to be, we all see the best sides of people and their businesses on social media, no one really likes to show the other side when you are struggling to make ends meet and are working around the clock to get your business off the ground, but overall I believe that finding a balance in your work, no matter whether employed or self-employed is up to you. If you get excited every day about your work and look forward to what amazing opportunities await you each day, you will never get bored. You have to work hard no matter which path you choose, but if the path is one that creates happiness, you will take off and never look back.
I hope your path is full of amazing opportunities and many blessings along the way
Sharon Fitzmaurice
Holistic Wellness Coach & Intuititive Reiki Master