I believe that you want to be your OWN boss, the decider of your own fate, captain of your own destiny.

It’s one of the reasons so many entrepreneurs start their business in the first place.

But when it comes to running that business, trust me when I say that you do NOT want to be “The Boss.”

Being The Boss Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

Once upon a time, you dreamed of being the boss of your business. But now that you’ve built your business, there’s a problem: 

Being the Boss is burning you out.

Bosses are responsible for “business as usual”, carefully keeping everything looking good from the outside while desperately trying to maintain control behind the curtain.

Bosses get stuck managing the minutia, either putting out fires or stuck in a loop of repetitive daily actions.

Bosses have no space for long-term visioning and big-picture thinking because they’re preoccupied with juggling the details of the daily minutiae.

Bosses have no time for identifying creative solutions, let alone implementing them.

Bosses can’t even see new opportunities because they’re completely focused on what’s right in front of them.

And where exactly does that path lead?

Straight for a yawning plateau, that’s where.

You might have the bandwidth to implement a system or two to catch some wind under your sails–but sustainable, exponential growth?

The hard truth is that it’s just not going to happen when you’re stuck playing Boss.

You may be the brains behind the whole operation, but when you’re stuck in the role of Boss, you and your business will flounder in preconceived notions and busywork.

Successful entrepreneurs stuck in Boss-mode will stay stagnant until they realize that being the Boss and being the CEO are NOT the same thing.

CEOs show up *completely* differently in their businesses. 

The Dramatic Difference Between “Boss” and “CEO”

CEOs are visionaries. They’re the movers and shakers, cultivating vision and orchestrating the future with a growth mindset and willingness to learn.

CEOs are leaders. They’ve done the uncomfortable personal work to level up their self-development, communication, and decision-making. They’re the source of inspiration and encouragement that sustains their winning teams.

CEOs are experts. They’re at the top of their field, expanding their growing edges, and applying that knowledge to carve new paths forward.

Become the Badass CEO Your Company Needs

If you want to transition from deflated Boss to badass CEO, it’s time to confront the insecurities holding you back and start writing a new narrative.

What limiting beliefs show up when you picture the business you REALLY want to lead?

I use this simple practice with my Catapult clients because it is wildly accessible, effective, and a great way to get clear on what you want – and where you’re getting in your own way.

⇒ Start by identifying the limiting belief that’s keeping you stuck in Boss mode. 

Maybe it looks like:

“Being a business owner means sacrificing my personal life 

to support my family/make a living.”

Or

“I don’t deserve ease and comfort. Being a successful business owner

 is about doing it yourself, no matter how exhausting or impossible that becomes.”

This step is about sharpening your powers of recognition so that you can identify the stories that you’re getting stuck in. When you learn to recognize these thoughts and beliefs, you can catch them when they come up, instead of getting sucked in. 

⇒ Think about the stories you’d rather believe in and start telling them to yourself. 

What alternative narrative do you want to claim for yourself?

“I can have a successful business that makes more than *just enough* 

AND have the time to enjoy my life with the people closest to me.”

Or maybe

“I deserve support. Being a successful leader means asking for help when I need it.”

Craft new narratives from your goals and aspirations. When you catch those old limiting beliefs trying to suck you back in, come back to the new beliefs that you’ve chosen to begin your new chapter. This is how you begin to overwrite your old stories. 

⇒ Seek evidence for your new narrative in everyday interactions and experiences.

You’ve already begun unraveling the beliefs that are no longer serving your success, but if you want to replace them, you need your brain to buy into the story you want to tell instead. And your brain requires evidence before it believes anything.

So start collecting evidence.

If your goal is to have more time for your personal life, that means noting every night you’re home on time for dinner. Every weekend you take off. Every lunch you have with a friend instead of a client. Pay attention to the major victories and the small wins.

If you were my client, I would ask you to set some time aside at the end of every day to write down any (and every) piece of evidence you encountered during your day that supports your new way of thinking. When you’re done, read your evidence list out loud to your partner or your roommate, or text it to your business bestie. 

Every piece of evidence you gather to support your new narrative is another step towards rewriting your internal narrative and empowering yourself to be more fulfilled and successful in your business and your life.

Now it’s your turn.

You don’t have to be the busy, bordering-on-burnt-out Boss. 

You are the visionary expert that started your company, and you could be owning your role as the badass CEO instead.

You just need to get out of your own way. 

⇒ Start by zeroing in on those thoughts that come up when you start dreaming and your inner critic says that you aren’t capable or worthy.

⇒ Declare the unlimited beliefs that you want to claim for yourself.

⇒ Make a practice of seeking and finding your own evidence that you actually ARE capable and worthy.

Because you were never meant to be the Boss. You were always destined to be the CEO.