“I have worked for myself & under a boss over the years. Working for myself has given me the flexibility to pursue my passions & has been the best thing in terms of personal freedom & fulfillment.”
I am a specialist Dentist, having spent almost a decade mastering my craft in one of the best dental schools in the country. I’ve had the pleasure of working for both myself and working for a boss over the years. I’ve taught in colleges as an academician, was attached to the biggest names in corporate hospitals and then transitioned to maintaining my own dental practice after my son was born. When I was attached to an academic institution, travelling 140 kms everyday was also a part of my daily routine. Hence it was only natural that I transitioned to freelancing as my son was born. As a career oriented woman, working was important for me as I have always believed that being financially independent was a key to personal fulfillment.
A month after my son was born, ten years ago, I joined the gig economy as a specialist Endodontist for a few hours every day. I then went on to start my own Dental practice and it’s been a decade of its successful running. On the whole, working for myself was the best thing that happened to me in terms of personal freedom and fulfilment.
Freelancing gave me the flexibility to pursue my passion of travel photography. Last summer, I spent three weeks in Peru, Bolivia and Chile exploring the Andean culture.
Freelancing can be frustrating, scary, difficult and a constant struggle. A lot of people assume that working on your own would mean working little. My work hours currently are from nine am to nine pm. I work twice as hard to keep myself going. But there are silver linings that are way better than working for someone else. For starters, I had no one to blame but myself. And that is a good thing! Looking for other people to blame is a waste of time.
However the biggest realization in all these years was that I need to be working in an environment that I enjoy working and not in an environment that I feel the need to escape from. And that’s what I currently do. There is a flexibility to work as much or little as I like and when and where I please- environment for Good Work. And yes, most importantly, I love what I do which allows me to live a Good Life.