The Day I Promoted Myself to CEO: An AlphaGirl’s Guide to Radical Ownership
The week is in full swing, and you’re taking stock. You’re navigating deadlines, managing expectations, and pushing your big vision forward. In the quiet moments, it’s easy to let the little frustrations pile up. The Wi-Fi that crashed during an important call. The client who moved the goalposts again. The alarm clock that, for some reason, decided not to be loud enough this morning.
Let’s get something straight—growing up isn’t just about aging gracefully (or wondering when you became the person who thinks teenagers’ music is too loud). It’s about the slow, and then sudden, realization that nobody else is responsible for your life. Not your boss, not your clients, not your ex, and certainly not that leftover pizza you decided to eat at 2 a.m.
True growth is the profound internal shift that happens when you stop the endless cycle of blaming your circumstances and start saying, with calm and quiet power, “Okay, maybe this one’s on me.”
It’s like leveling up in the video game of life. Only instead of collecting extra lives, you collect bills, responsibilities, and an unexplainable urge to check your credit score for fun. But here’s the game-changing twist: the moment you start truly owning your decisions, your screw-ups, and your power, life actually gets better. It gets harder, yes, but it gets infinitely more rewarding.
You finally realize you’re not a victim of circumstance; you’re the CEO of the most important corporation in the world: You, Inc.
The Blame Game: The Ultimate Career Killer
Before you can step into the corner office of your own life, you have to fire the perpetually complaining employee who still lives in your head. This inner employee is a master of justification, a black belt in excuse-making. It’s the voice that protects your ego by constantly pointing the finger outward.
- “I would have finished the project, but the client was too demanding.”
- “I would have launched my business by now, but the economy is too uncertain.”
- “I would be healthier, but I’m just too busy and stressed.”
This blame game feels like a shield, but it's actually a cage. Every time you place the cause of your problems outside of yourself, you are outsourcing your power. You are willingly handing over your agency to external forces you cannot control. If the client is the problem, you are powerless until they change. If the economy is the problem, you are a helpless victim, waiting for the market to save you.
This mindset is a career killer for an aspiring entrepreneur. An employee can survive by blaming the system. A founder is the system. You cannot build an empire from a place of victimhood.
The Promotion: Stepping into the Role of "CEO of You, Inc."
The moment you stop blaming and start owning is the day you give yourself a promotion. It’s the day you stop being a junior-level employee in your own life and claim the corner office. You accept the title, the responsibility, and the immense power that comes with being the CEO of You, Inc.
This promotion comes with a new, all-encompassing job description.
You are now the Chief Financial Officer (CFO):
Your financial health is 100% on you. No one is coming with a magic inheritance or a winning lottery ticket. As CFO, you are responsible for the financial statements of your life. You track your income and expenses (your P&L), you manage your assets and debts (your balance sheet), and you make the strategic capital allocation decisions—investing in your skills, funding your business, and building your wealth. That “unexplainable need to check your credit score for fun” isn't weird; it’s a sign that the CFO is finally on the job.
You are now the Chief Operating Officer (COO):
Your daily life is your company's operations. As COO, you are responsible for designing the systems and habits that lead to peak performance. This includes your health, your productivity routines, and your schedule. You don’t “find time”; you make time. You don’t hope for energy; you create it with proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise. You are the architect of your daily operational efficiency.
You are now the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO):
Your personal brand, your reputation, and your network are your marketing assets. As CMO, you are responsible for how You, Inc. is perceived by the world. You strategically manage your network, you build your authority in your chosen field, and you create the opportunities you want by positioning yourself as a person of value.
What Ownership Looks Like in the Trenches
This all sounds great in theory, but what does it look like on a messy Wednesday when things are going wrong?
Scenario 1: You Missed a Major Deadline.
- The Employee Mindset (Blame):“It was an impossible deadline. I had too many meetings, and my team didn’t give me what I needed on time.”
- The CEO Mindset (Ownership):“I failed to manage my calendar and protect my focus time. I also didn't communicate my needs to my team early enough. Next week, I will block off non-negotiable deep work sessions and create a clearer project timeline with earlier check-ins.”
Scenario 2: A Social Media Campaign Completely Flops.
- The Employee Mindset (Blame):“The algorithm is burying my content. No one saw it. This platform is useless.”
- The CEO Mindset (Ownership): “My message didn't resonate, or my creative wasn't compelling enough to stop the scroll. I am going to analyze the data, see what my audience did engage with, and test a completely different angle based on that feedback.”
Scenario 3: You Feel Burnt Out and Unhealthy.
- The Employee Mindset (Blame): “Work is just so crazy right now. I’m too busy and stressed to even think about eating right or exercising.”
- The CEO Mindset (Ownership):“I have been treating my health—my company’s most valuable asset—as an afterthought. I am the COO, and I am running my operations inefficiently. Starting tomorrow, my workout is a mandatory appointment, and I will dedicate one hour on Sunday to meal prepping for the week.”
In every scenario, the CEO mindset takes the power back.
Your First Executive Order: An Action Plan for Radical Ownership
Ready to step into your new role? Like any promotion, it starts with your first day on the job. Here are your first executive orders.
- Conduct an "On Me" Audit. Pick one recurring frustration in your life—a financial struggle, a strained relationship, a stalled business idea. Look at it squarely and say the words, “Okay, maybe this one’s on me.” Then, ask the CEO question: “What is the one, single action I have the power to take today to change this situation?”
- Fire Your "Chief Blaming Officer." For the next 48 hours, commit to a strict “no blame, no excuses” policy. Every time you’re tempted to point a finger outward, stop. Pivot. And identify one thing you could have done, or can do now, to own the outcome.
- Stop Outsourcing Your Destiny.This is the big one. Stop outsourcing your destiny to fate, the stars, or your horoscope app. Take a hard look at where you are placing your faith. Is it in yourself and your own actions, or are you waiting for an external sign to give you permission to move?
So grab the reins, my friend. The universe doesn’t respect people who wait for the perfect conditions. It respects people who say, “I got this,” even if they’re still figuring it out as they go.
This journey of growing up—of taking radical responsibility—is the most challenging and rewarding work you will ever do. It’s the moment you stop being a character in your life story and become the author. It's the moment you finally, truly, step into your power.
Grow. Evolve. Conquer.