How to Become the CEO of Your Own Life

Last updated February 10, 2023

If you’ve been fortunate enough to work with a great CEO or senior manager, you’ll know that much of their success comes from knowing exactly when, and to whom, to delegate.

Being able to hand over responsibility for a task or project ensures that the work gets completed, whilst you manage other areas.

If you’re looking to make every day less stressful and more enjoyable, become the CEO of your own life.

Slow down

If you’ve got into the habit of saying ‘yes’ to every request in your personal or professional life, it’s time to slow down and reassess. Living in this way is only sustainable for a finite amount of time. If you’re not delegating enough, you’re putting yourself at risk of becoming burned out.

Effective managers may have stressful periods at work, but they’re still able to enjoy time with their families, hobbies and exercise, by finding a balance. Often, this comes through careful delegation to empower a team to get the work done more efficiently.

In a UK study, 93% of women in heterosexual relationships were still doing the bulk of domestic duties. Delegation means shifting your focus from doing to leading, and it can take some practice to get used to.

In your journey to becoming CEO of your life, you’ll need to consider your own personal lifestyle and habits. Are there chores, tasks or admin that you should be delegating to your partner or even your children? If you’re unsure where to begin, it’s time to look at the bigger picture.

Life goals

Becoming the CEO of your life means looking at your life in the broadest terms. Just like in business, there’s little point in delegating tasks when the end goal is not yet defined.

Think about what your dream future lifestyle might look like. You may wish you could fit more hobbies in, or have more quality time with your family. Perhaps you dream of being mortgage-free or to be able to retire early.

Visualise your future, and a basic list of steps you’ll need to take to get there.

Project managers have a series of objectives or goals to ensure a project is completed on time. As you develop into your own CEO, set goals for each day, week, month and year to help you achieve this personal project. As the project grows, you may find the daily and weekly goals become less important, but keep your focus on monthly and yearly goals.

Changing your life in this way can take a very long time, and that is to be expected. Having regular goals will help you stay inspired and motivated.

Remember, this is about you and your personal dreams, so you don’t have to seek approval from others. If you’re making positive changes to reduce stress and increase happiness for you and your family, then don’t give up!

Delegate

Once you know where you’re heading, it’s time to start delegating. Delegating is about inspiring other people to complete a task in their own way, rather than dictating exactly how you want something done.

Delegating is also about learning to say no. Women find it harder to say no at work, and with good reason. Many women who say no feel at risk of being treated unfairly by managers if they decline additional work.

However, if there is someone else in your team (or family) who can complete a task, it’s ok to push back and ask that they do it. At home, this could include children (and your partner) cooking family meals, completing financial admin or loading the washing machine.

If you find it hard to relinquish control, ask yourself whether it really matters if they cook or clean in a different way to you. The key is to empower others to share the burden that belongs to you all.

With others pulling their weight at home, take time to focus on, and achieve, your own life goals.

Effective Strategies

If you meet some resistance to the delegation in your personal life, you’ll need to find ways of getting everyone on board. This might involve:

• Making sure other people know why their role is important, and how it will help with your overall life goals.

• Avoiding micro-managing, but being present enough to help when required

• Knowing when you are at capacity so that you can say no to any additional projects or requests in your personal life.

Becoming your own CEO means taking control of your life to help your mental health and improve how your future looks.

If you’d like to talk more about what becoming the CEO of your own life might look like, take a look at my guide to leadership training.

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