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I recently had a phone call with one of my best friends who had moved to London to work for a large multinational public company. She is talented, successful and hardworking.
Yet she called me full of tears, fear and anger. “They’re restructuring the company; they’re cutting positions. My role is about to die.”
I suggested she apply for the same position at other companies, companies that could offer multiple benefits, from remote work to stock options. I explained that with her talent, potential and ideas, she could even be self-employed through freelancing for various clients with contracts. She could chase her version of success and happiness. And she would probably end up with more money and even more freedom.
“You do not understand.” She said. “I don’t want to be anyone. I want to work for the top companies in the world.”
Maybe I don’t get it. But I also don’t understand why talented, hard-working individuals like them want to put their full potential into hierarchy and politics for prestige. Why do they allow their companies to stress them out, ruin their day, limit their career opportunities, and determine their worth?
Related: 7 Signs It’s Time to Make the Transition From Employee to businesskinda.com
Do not get me wrong; there are plenty of great people out there who recognize their worth and consciously choose to defend the employee mindset. They’re okay with that.
But if you’ve had enough of the corporate world, feel like it’s limiting your options in life, and are wondering when is the right time to leverage your skills and make a switch, then it’s probably now.
Here are seven signs you no longer have an employee mindset.
Contents
- 1 1. You’re in love with the idea of working wherever and whenever you want
- 2 2. During meetings you are daydreaming instead of participating.
- 3 3. You absolutely hate titles and hierarchy.
- 4 4. You test several side issues after or before work.
- 5 5) You are not afraid to build relationships from outreach.
- 6 6. You know that building passive income and making money online is 100% possible.
- 7 7) You are constantly enriching your knowledge and skills to increase value.
- 8 Final thoughts
1. You’re in love with the idea of working wherever and whenever you want
Flexible working hours and location independence started to become the norm after the 2020 pandemic. You proved to your employer that location doesn’t affect productivity and that a strict 9 to 5 workday could burn you out instead.
And while many companies allow work-from-home days and a flexible work schedule, you still need to provide your location and total work hours.
However, with an entrepreneurial mindset, full location and time flexibility is your dream; you know the only way to achieve that is to fully own your freedom by creating your income stream instead of expecting a paycheck.
Related: Remote work is here to stay: Are you ready for the new way of life?
2. During meetings you are daydreaming instead of participating.
The average employer spends at least 3 hours a week in meetings, with 30% saying they spend more than 5 hours a week.
And instead of actively participating in that meeting, consider how to avoid the next one so you can work on something instead. You know you could spend your time in a more fruitful way than attending company meetings, but there’s nothing you can do about it.
Someone of higher rank has requested your presence; you have to be there. So there you are, visualizing how to escape this misuse of your hours, wasting time when time is money.
Related: Your time is money, so stop wasting it
3. You absolutely hate titles and hierarchy.
When you have an employee mentality, you get so caught up in titles. You fool yourself with pride, show off on Linkedin, gossip about the abilities of others and jealously spread your best wishes to the colleagues who first claimed the C titles.
As an businesskinda.com you laugh at job titles. You want people to work with you, not for you. You also know that a title cannot determine your worth. Anyone can go on Linkedin and claim to be the CEO or an executive member of a 5 person company.
What does that even mean?
Fancy titles in corporate jobs almost always equate to less freedom, less time to work on your relationships with others, and less time to spend with your kids before they grow up.
C degrees as you climb the corporate ladder also means less time to invest in your self-care planning, wellness and personal skills and less time to enjoy life.
4. You test several side issues after or before work.
With an employee mindset, you look at the clock at a quarter to six and know it’s time to turn off your laptop and get on with your day.
And while maintaining a work-life balance is crucial, as an businesskinda.com you are constantly testing concepts and trying as many side activities as possible to build multiple streams of income. You are not dependent on one client, idea or salary, but you are willing to test, take risks, fail and start over.
Related: 4 creative side hustles that fight inflation and make extra money
5) You are not afraid to build relationships from outreach.
As an employee you are terrified of cold pitches. You don’t like being rejected or ignored because that happens most of the time. You don’t try to reach others unless you’re selling something; in that case, you view outreach as a transaction, not a relationship.
However, as a business owner, you know that expanding your systems by connecting, advising, or simply interacting with others is one of the most important steps in building a personal or professional brand.
You don’t underestimate the power of community and networks; you strive to make connections with one or two new people in your industry on a daily basis. In a year’s time, you’ll be amazed at your reach and the ways your network has proven useful.
6. You know that building passive income and making money online is 100% possible.
If you have an employee mindset, you don’t care about investing online or building passive income. Even if you care, it seems too good to be true and you don’t bother putting together a diversified portfolio.
On the contrary, if you have entrepreneurial tendencies, passive income ideas will get you excited and turn your world upside down to build an online income.
Creator economics isn’t a too-good-to-be-true scenario, nor a plan to get rick quickly. It’s an available reality with no barriers to entry, and as an businesskinda.com you love that challenge. You know that spending x amount of time creating the smallest passive income stream can yield 10x results in the near future.
They know they need to find what they love to make and work on it daily.
7) You are constantly enriching your knowledge and skills to increase value.
You exchange your skills and experience with paid working hours as an employee. As an businesskinda.com, however, you offer your skills, idea or business as a service that solves problems and adds value.
You don’t pay per word, hour or month. You pay based on the benefits and usefulness of your solutions. You answer questions and deliver results. And because your expertise is directly related to the value and results you deliver, you work daily to improve and enrich it.
Final thoughts
Maybe you’re not 100% ready to escape the rat race just yet. However, if any of the above signs ring true, you know it’s time to take ownership of your career and follow a path that you can fully control.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.