My friend Hamza works as a keynote speaker, author, and leader of a new tech company. If you asked him for career advice, he would tell you, “Be your own boss.” 

This resonates with me; it’s about taking yourself seriously, investing in yourself, and reclaiming responsibility and agency. Whether you work with other people and businesses or not, you don’t grow reliant on them. You know how to walk a path of your own. 

One of my favorite images in The 50th Law, a book co-authored by Robert Greene and 50 Cent, is that of crafting little empires. They write:

It was as if a hustler, born amid squalor and cramped quarters, possessed an empire. This was not something physical—the corner that he worked or the neighborhood he wanted to take over. It was his time, his energy, his creative schemes, his freedom to move where he wanted to. If he kept command of that empire, he would make money and thrive. If he looked for help, if he got caught up in other people’s political games, he gave all of that away. In such a case, the negative conditions of the hood would be magnified and he would end up a beggar, a pawn in someone else’s game….

Keep in mind the following: what you really value in life is ownership, not money. If ever there is a choice—more money or more responsibility—you must always opt for the latter. A lower-paying position that offers more room to make decisions and carve out little empires is infinitely preferable to something that pays well but constricts your movements.

There is always a time to play your position. While helping Ye build his empires for years, Pusha T also crafted a little empire of his own and grew it. “In a world where everybody wants to be king, Push also knows the value of being a knight in certain situations to defend the kingdom,” I wrote for Trapital.

Coincidentally enough, Alexis Ohanian also called upon this image when he entitled his show, Small Empires.

You deserve great things. That’s your responsibility. Nobody owes it to you.
P.S., Here’s a useful application of this idea. If you’re an author, consider that all publishing is self-publishing.