The Illusion of Freedom and 3 Dirty Words That Cause It

Just about every small business owner I know wants a successful business because they value freedom. Most of us have been employed at some point in our lives and know what it’s like to work for someone else – you’re accountable to them, all your efforts conspire in the direction of making them successful and furthering their vision.

Remembering what it’s like to be employed by someone else offers a stark contrast that probably contributed to the decision to start your business or downright pushed you there. Your time and freedom is a highly valued asset.

You knew starting a business would take hard work, and you would put a lot of time in – BUT you were highly motivated and abundantly clear that ultimately, you would have freedom and you would experience your life on your own terms.

There’s nothing wrong with that mindset – freedom is a wonderful reason to be self-employed but guess what? The value of freedom you hold so dear is unbeknown to you creating an illusion that’s getting in your way.

Here’s how it plays out. You resist three dirty words, structure, discipline, and accountability because you think they’re the opposite of freedom! But, here’s a secret all successful business owners know – structure, discipline and accountability ARE the foundational building blocks freedom is built on. Until you stop resisting and make friends with structure, discipline and accountability you’ll never get what you want – freedom.

For some reason many people have an almost allergic reaction to the concepts of structure, discipline and accountability. They feel them to be authoritative, not spontaneous, and dare I say, militaristic. Consequently, resisting these qualities ultimately leads to lack and is one of the root causes of time management problems – which leads to – guess what? Your lack of freedom.

What do you do about this? You take a good look at your relationship with these words and change your thinking. You get help if you need it putting a plan in place so you can overcome the illusion. But, most importantly you remember to the core of why you want to be self-employed in the first place – FREEDOM - and decide to do what ever is necessary to get there.

It’s YOUR life… Imagine the possibilities!