From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe your own manbe your own manINDEPENDENT PERSONto behave and think independently without worrying about what other people think I’m my own man. I say what I believe. → man
Examples from the Corpus
be your own man• At the same time, both here and in Hawksmoor, Ackroyd, too, is his own man.• But Erlich was his own man.• He turned out to be his own man, and a leader.• He was his own man, after all.• Major's first chance to show that he is his own man has been squandered on favours.• The latest reshuffle, immediately following victory, was supposed to confirm, once and for all, that Major was his own man.• You can be your own man.• Mobile I was my own man and played the way I believed because we lacked talent in certain areas.• Do you want to be your own man and run your own business? 