“Be your own boss” is the clarion call from big name entrepreneurs, motivators, and life coaches. It is a call to action that leaves a lot of people tongue tied, speechless, and even springs some to action. A lot of people stay rooted in their spot in the face of this call to action, because they find it difficult to imagine another way of earning other than the ones they are used to. Some take the advice of life coaches and quit their jobs, make an attempt to make it on their own, get burned, and go back to what they knew.
I have followed motivational life coaches and big name speakers like Tony Robbins for a long time now. There was a time when I’d had it up to my throat with them though. Every speech they made about being your own boss made me feel like crap. They made me feel like I was living such a petty, inferior existence. Every time I’d clock in at work, i died a little more inside; so I began un-following them. I “cancelled” them as they say in these times of awakening that we live in. I unsubscribed from motivational YouTube material and chose to live the life I was living without being made to feel inferior.
Once I recovered from my feelings of inadequacy, and was able to put aside my fragile male ego; I began to explore the “be your own boss” concept with a fresh pair of eyes. Is there really such a thing as being your own boss? When I looked at it from the eyes of an employee, the idea was so alien to me. When I looked at it with a fresh pair of eyes, I discovered that there was an element of truth to what they were saying.
Those opposed to the be your own boss (BYOB) lifestyle will say that no one is truly free from authority; an argument I agree with. The truth is, everyone is beholden to someone. Even people that go on and on about being free from bosses are beholden to other people for their daily sustenance. Entrepreneurs are beholden to their suppliers, customers, and to some extent, their employees. Content creators like writers, bloggers, and You Tubers, are beholden to their audiences, and their advertisers.
These arguments are true and irrefutable. People who fight the BYOB idea using these arguments should also check themselves, though. Despite the arguments I stated in the previous paragraph being absolute truths, what is also true is that the boss-freedom argument is not an off and on switch; it is rather a continuum. There are levels to this thing. Someone who works directly under a boss that determines their entire existence is at the very basic level. Someone who creates their own schedule and is still beholden to readers, customers, and advertisers is at an elite level. They both have to answer to certain groups of people, but one has leg room that the other just doesn’t have.
So when you see the likes of Tony Robbins and Boyce Watkins talking up that freedom lifestyle, it doesn’t mean they are completely free from accountability, they just have more leg room than most. I hope this clears up this argument once and for all.
I am a crypto enthusiast who loves investing, research, writing, reading, fitness, African food and soccer.
