Working for a small business and a large business are two different things entirely. At a large business, there are a lot of layers under you and a lot of layers above you. There are jokes about being an “HR issue” if you step out of line, and there are policies and procedures for everything. In a big corporation, there is a lot more room to hide. In fact, mediocrity is probably the best way to go, it makes you fewer enemies and the reality is that, unless you do something on purpose to really hurt the company, there is little chance that you will ever lose your job once you are established. If ever someone needs to give you anything but positive feedback, you will be spoken to with your supervisor and your supervisor’s supervisor to ensure that your manager does and says the right things. All of this leads to almost comedic type events, which TV shows such as “the Office” showcase. Yes, I have done my time in a cubicle surrounded by other cubicles, and some of the episodes can be very real to life.
Then you have a small business, maybe even as small as freelancers, who, in all actuality, run their own business. There is no one to tell you what to do, no higher authority, you are your own boss. A large portion of the population cannot work under these conditions. Therefore, if you are a part of a small business or you are a freelancer, congratulations. I respect you for being out of the box and challenging yourself. It is a misconception that freelancing is easy work, if anything, it can be harder. You are your own boss, but you are also your own judge, jury, and executioner.
There are many personalities in the world but the people I seem to click with and who are drawn to my world are those type A, go getter, “it has to be good if my name is on it” type of people. I am one of those people, I relate to them. However, this post is primarily to tell myself and everyone like me that we need to learn to give ourselves a break once in awhile.
I am probably the worst offender, I work a lot and I prefer work to play. In the last few months, especially since summer started, I have been challenging myself to make a couple of simple changes, a few of which I will pass on with the hopes that it will help someone else relax.
First, change the way you think about yourself. You are human; you are going to make mistakes. In today’s world, everything can be corrected. What if it is a really BIG mistake? Apologize and move on, that is all you can do. Shake it off and don’t beat yourself up all day long over anything.
Ask for help. If help is not available, trust your intuition. Every single time I go against my gut, I am always sorry. I always know the right thing to do, somehow I always know. Always. You do too.
Learn to take criticism. You can be having the best day in the world and someone will come up to you and say, “that shirt looks wrong on you,” or something like that to make you question yourself and take you off track. Expect it; that is just the way life is.
Realize you can’t control what anyone else does. This is a hard one for people, but it is an essential key to happiness. Do what you can do, state your opinion, but let it be. It’s not your problem.
My final piece of advice is to recognize that “this too shall pass.” Think about it, most problems resolve themselves within three days time, or at least the way you view and feel about the problem. Like an annoying paper cut or a toothache, what drives you crazy or hurts today likely won’t matter so much in a few days. Think of all the arguments you have had with people and now you don’t remember what it was about although it seemed to life and death at the time. It’s not that serious, it never is.
If I could give a toast to all of you, I would. I would say, “let’s raise our glass to a great rest of the year!” We will all be fine in the end! What piece of advice has helped you more than anything else? What would you say to people like me who tend to be hard on themselves? I would love to hear what you can add to my list………
-GB