Many of us say we don’t like to be micromanaged in the workplace. But, how many of us can actually manage ourselves? Productivity expert and author of Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy, takes a look at this question and lends a helping hand so we don’t fall into the micromanaged trap.

The world is full of people who are waiting for someone to come along and motivate them to be the kind of people they wish they could be. The problem is that no one is coming to the rescue. These people are waiting for a bus on a street where no buses pass. If they don’t take charge of their lives and put the pressure on themselves, they can end up waiting forever. And that is what most people do.

Only about two percent of people can work entirely without supervision. We call these people “leaders.” This is the kind of person you are meant to be and that you can be, if you decide to be. To reach your full potential, you must form the habit of putting the pressure on yourself and not waiting for someone else to come along and do it for you. You must choose your own frogs [your most challenging, but significant tasks] and then make yourself eat them in their order of importance.

Lead the Field.
See yourself as a role model for others. Raise the bar on yourself. The standards you set for your own work and behavior should be higher than anyone else could set for you. Make it a game with yourself to start a little earlier, work a little harder, and stay a little later. Always look for ways to go the extra mile, to do more than you are paid for.

Your self-esteem, the core of your personality, has been defined by psychologist Nathaniel Branden as “the reputation you have for yourself.” You build up or pull down your reputation with yourself with everything you do or fail to do. The good news is that you feel better about yourself whenever you push yourself to do your best. You increase your self-esteem whenever you go beyond the point where the average person would normally quit.