Being self-employed can be fulfilling but also exhausting. It means you operate differently from most people and have developed a unique set of skills. This makes you an ideal candidate for an online degree.
Being self-employed means managing your time, pursuing interesting opportunities, and solving problems without outside help. If you ever decide to pivot back to a full-time role, you’ll be able to thrive under pressure.
The flexibility of online education can be a struggle for some people. For those who have experienced being self-employed, you are likely to thrive in it. Here’s why you may be perfectly placed to turn that experience into an academic advantage.
You’re Already Self-Directed
There are many online degrees out there, and they all involve initiative. For example, if you’re interested in a family nurse practitioner online program then you need to deal with being able to work without a classroom. This presents challenges for accountability, motivation, and discipline.
For many students, that freedom becomes a liability as they can struggle without structure. For you, it’s a familiar feeling that all self-employed people need to master. This comes with being able to set your own deadlines and stick to them.
When self-employed, progress doesn’t happen unless you make it happen. When enrolling in an online program, you’ll know that waiting for motivation to strike isn’t a thing. Instead, you schedule your own study blocks, track your assignments and build systems that will keep you accountable.
With an online course, you need to be able to learn independently. A self-employed person has already likely learned several key skills. This could be mastering new software, filling out your own tax forms or learning basic accounting.
If you pivot back to a full-time role, you can use these skills to advance as quickly as possible once you have your qualifications. Many employees are happy to stay contentedly in their current role. A person with in-built drive is more likely to research, ask questions and execute effectively.
You’re Comfortable with Discipline and Delayed Gratification
Self-employed work means you have to work without any immediate rewards. You may spend months building something up. All the while, you have nothing to show for it and no one telling you that you’re doing a good job. Instead, you have the courage to carry on, knowing the rewards will eventually come.
This understanding is that meaningful outcomes will often require sustained effort. This can then be applied to both gaining qualifications through an online course and then applying those qualifications to gain experience and climb a career ladder.
For others, it can be easy to lose heart and focus on things that will give you short-term benefits. When progress feels slow, it can be tempting to quit. With the self-employed mindset, you will be used to delayed gratification and understand the importance of consistency.
That discipline also comes with knowing there is no perfect time to study. You have to work with the time you have. If priorities in your life shift, then you need to adjust accordingly. It allows you to stay more focused on a long-term objective.
You Understand the Value of Career Control
One thing many self-employed people value above all others is career control. The freedom and autonomy can be fantastic, but they do come with trade-offs. It could be that you’ve begun to get tired of income instability, no employee benefits and burnout.
This is where an online degree can shine, as it can act as a bridge between independence and stability. You can pivot without abandoning your current income source. Gradually, you can position yourself for a full-time role, but one that will give you the fulfilment you’re looking for.
You will value control, which makes it highly unlikely you will drift into a job that you don’t like. Instead, you will choose a program that is aligned with your values and the goals you want to reach. You’ll take it on yourself to seek opportunities that fit your lifestyle.
The value of career control allows you to write the next chapter of your life rather than it being dictated to you. Instead of waiting for someone to hand you an opportunity, you go out and grab it yourself.
Making the Leap of Faith
Making a pivot back to being an employee after being self-employed can be a huge decision. However, it’s one you can do with the perfect mindset for success. A mindset that has been cultivated by your ability to work for yourself.
The beauty of online courses is that you don’t need to step back into the job world doing something you hate. Instead, you can pivot into a new career path that will give you immense fulfillment and satisfaction while also having those advantages of security that can be missing with self-employed work.
Photo by Ling App; Unsplash
