Earlier this week, I was washing the dishes. I was exhausted. I could feel the workload of the week, as if it was actual weight on me. The work done. The work to come. The endless parenting moments filling the gap. Like relentless waves on my psyche.

Then I remembered who I work for.

The Big Bad Blog is not a place to talk about my professional life. It’s taboo. I write here about politics, sex, and merkins. It’s not really the right place to juxtapose any opinions about my workplace.

Besides which, we all need to gripe about work from time to time. Griping in writing on a public forum just seems foolish.

But we break that taboo today, and talk about who I work for. Because I work for me.

I’m not self-employed, mind you. I have an employer. I have a boss. My employer has customers that I interact with.

But I don’t work for these people. I work for me.

Arguably the best piece of professional advice I’ve ever read, courtesy of Seth Godin, in one of his better moments, is that no matter your employment situation, you’re your own boss.

The person you consider your boss? That’s your customer.
The company employing you? The one mentioned on your paystub? That’s your customer.

Ultimately, if you’re a full time employee, you’re selling them your services for a combination of a salary, your benefit package, and whatever else is in it for you.

Remembering this puts it in perspective. It gives you permission to take a risk, to fail. It gives you the fire to work a bit harder, to put in a bit more.

Working too hard? It sets it right. Not working hard enough? It sets it right. Trouble setting priorities? It sets it right.

Some things get surprisingly easy when you recognise that, at the end of the day, you’re the one who decides your own actions, and your life and career depend on that, and that alone.

Thank goodness I’m the one in charge.