How To Be Your Own Boss Even When You Aren't⁠

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.

Be Consistently Good Instead Of Occasionally Great⁠

Originally published on Forbes.

How many people do you know who consistently fail to make any progress because they are always trying to leap past all the folks who are actually working? I'm sad to say I know more than a few.

Our business world is filled with aspirational mumbo-jumbo, from the posters put up by HR to the latest pep talk given by your newest boss. Everyone aspires to be the best of the best. Besides Avis, I can't think of a business that advertised the fact it was number two.

That having been said, I'd be thrilled to: have a book that's number two on the New York Times bestseller list, help a client go from a startup to number two in their industry, or have one of my kids be number two in his or her class.

(To make sure you get the point and don't get hung up on the number two, I'd be thrilled to be number nine on the bestseller list.)

I'm not suggesting you aim low; I'm suggesting you aim for consistent excellence rather than once-every-five-years brilliance. Try setting your sights on being trustworthy, reliable, persistent and expert. Instead of trying to be the superstar, be the person on whom others can consistently depend.

Our world loves sports, and most sports are a zero-sum game; one team wins, and the other loses. But this is a horrible model for our increasingly interconnected world. We need to stop glorifying winners and teaching our young people to admire only the Olympic gold medalist or the World Champions. It is far better to encourage someone to embody the Olympic work ethic than to brainwash them that the only path to success is to beat everyone else.

99.9% of us won't beat everyone else. We won't be great in the sense that we vanquish all others. But we still can be great in the sense that we consistently do our best and help others in a meaningful way.

Give me 20 people who are consistently good and we can change the world. The same is true for you. Align yourself with people who care more about progress than pride, who have a bigger work ethic than ego. Get stuff done. Get excited by what you achieve, and share that excitement with others.

While someone else is aiming for the stars, you will actually make a meaningful difference in our world and in the lives of people with whom you interact.

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.