“The person who knows HOW will always have a job. The person who knows WHY will always be his BOSS.” Alanis Morissette
A few weeks ago while channel surfing, I landed on a TV show called Bake or Break. It’s a show where renowned pastry chef, Stephanie Boswell, travels across the country to assist bakers in transforming their failing bakeries into thriving businesses. During the episode I watched, she worked with a baker who also needed to change her mindset. She needed to stop thinking like an EMPLOYEE and start thinking like a BOSS. After the show, I began to wonder if, in our personal lives, we act more like an EMPLOYEE or more like the BOSS. In your life, are you the EMPLOYEE? Or Are you the BOSS? I’ve been BOTH!! So, for this week’s blog, let’s talk SHIP about whether we are the EMPLOYEE OR THE BOSS in our lives!!!
In this episode, the baker’s business was struggling and she couldn’t afford to hire help. She did everything herself- the baking, the grocery shopping, the deliveries, managing the books, and everything else required to run the business. She had been performing as an EMPLOYEE for so long that she forgot that she was actually the BOSS. She was so focused on making ends meet, that she had lost sight of her vision. During the show, Stephanie asked her to repeat the phrase, “I am not an EMPLOYEE, I am the BOSS” until she felt and believed it. She finally got it!! She began to realize that as an EMPLOYEE, she had let life’s circumstances dictate her next steps and as the BOSS, despite those circumstances, she had the ability to make things happen by creating new opportunities. Once she took charge of her life, her confidence was restored and her business began to thrive. She discovered that she was NOT an EMPLOYEE, she was the BOSS!! What about you? How are you managing your lives? Are you the EMPLOYEE OR THE BOSS?
We’ve all had jobs where we’ve either been an EMPLOYEE OR THE BOSS. But what about in our personal lives? Sometimes, it may not feel as if we have a choice. Because oftentimes, the busyness of life itself forces us to assume the EMPLOYEE role in our own lives. Just like regular EMPLOYEES have the responsibility of ensuring that their day-to-day performance goals and tasks are met, so do we. We have day-to-day tasks that must be met too. We have to cook, grocery shop, pay bills, work, parent, and do those things that will ensure that our basic needs are met. As an EMPLOYEE, we are responsible for driving the progress that we make in our daily lives, but if we stay in that EMPLOYEE position, we’ll never have the vision to create the BOSS type of life that we deserve. Truth is, for some people, the very thought of being a BOSS can be intimating. So they prefer being an EMPLOYEE because it’s safer than being a BOSS. See an EMPLOYEE’S vision is limited to the circumstances but a BOSS has the ability to see the circumstances, overlook them, and create various ways to overcome them. Because a BOSS is constantly searching for new ways and opportunities to improve their lives.
Sometimes our lives may seem like one of those failing or fragile bakeries, but it is not!! If we don’t like where our life is headed or where we’re at, change it! All we have to do is to decide if we want to remain an EMPLOYEE or if we want to be that BOSS who develops the vision, creates the opportunities, and manages every aspect of our lives. Whatever you decide, just know that you were not created to be an EMPLOYEE, you were destined to be a BOSS!!!
SHIP TALK: Are you an EMPLOYEE OR THE BOSS in your life?
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