Originally published Apr. 21, 2014 on Forbes.
I'm going to tell you a secret that you already know, but probably forgot. This secret has the potential to transform your career from pretty good to spectacularly wonderful. This secret is powerful, foolproof, and highly versatile.
Are you ready?
The path to anything is to be what you want to become.
If you want to be entrepreneurial, be entrepreneurial.
If you want to be independent, be independent.
If you want to be happy, be happy.
The mistake that vast numbers of people make is that they think: I will be happy when ______ happens.
"I will be happy when I'm rich and powerful" is no way to be happy. It is a path to being unhappy for all or most of your life.
"I will be happy when I get a different boss" is a path to being a downtrodden subordinate for the rest of your life.
Most people have a boss - or 12 - above them. Your boss impacts your life, no doubt, but your boss cannot impact what's inside your head, unless you make the mistake of giving them access to your most personal of personal spaces.
Your boss can make you stay late, or answer 517 stupid questions, or do work for which he takes all the credit. But your boss cannot control whether you think like an entrepreneur or a divergent thinker.
You control your thoughts. The path to what you want is to think as though you already have what you want.
If this sounds like mumbo-jumbo to you, it's because you do not understand how people overcome incredible odds. This is how an unknown boxer becomes a world champion. It's how a "kid" becomes founder of a startup that goes public. It's how a 13-year-old girl ends up in a starring role on Broadway.
For every such success story, there are countless other people who never reached such outward success, but who far surpassed their previous "limitations" by thinking as though they already had what they wanted.
So if you want to be your own boss, be your own boss. For some time, you may have to deceive your current boss into believing that she is in charge of you, but deep inside you will know this is fiction. You are what you want to be, what you believe you are.
If you want to be proud, be proud.
Start by being proud of your ability to control what is inside your head. Focus on that, and build the you that you have always wanted to be.
I am Bruce Kasanoff, an executive coach who can help you get what you want. Book a one-hour call with me and I’ll prove it.