3 Must-Have Mindsets as a Freelancer or Solopreneur
Over four years of freelancing and running my own business, I’ve picked up a thing or two; mostly the hard way. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to make a good living doing what I love on my own time. I think that anybody who wants to can, so I'd like to share the three mindsets that were the most impactful on my journey.
Your time is valuable - Once you're a freelancer, how you spend your time becomes almost entirely your responsibility. There’s know boss saying that you should be working from 9 to 5. If you don’t take care of your time and put thought into how your week is structured you might feel like chicken running around with its head cut off. When the weekend hits and all of your friends with normal jobs want to make plans, you’ll regret that extra time on Tuesday afternoon you spent binging Stranger Things. The work still has to get done and there are times you might have to spend 10pm on Saturday slumped over the computer. As a freelancer or business owner, nobody else is going to tell you to make the best use of that Tuesday afternoon except you.
Say you can do it - Sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to be asked about doing a project that you don’t know how to do; something extremely difficult or daunting. If doing this project aligns with your goals or interests there’s only one answer to give: I can do that. Now some might consider this lying, which it is. However there’s a second unspoken part of this message that you just don’t say out loud to this potential client. I can do that - just not yet. Once you’ve accepted this job there’s only one option ahead of you; to learn. There’s no better motivation in the world to get off your ass and go figure it out than a deadline over your head. I’m not saying to start claiming that you can beat Ronaldo in a 1v1 game of football, let’s be reasonable here. But you could probably learn to kick the football without falling on your butt if needed. I can’t tell you how life changing this mindset was for me. Once I started to work on bigger projects, I realized that at first nobody knows what they're doing. However, having the guts to say I can do it and then figuring it out, is what you need to get there.
Learn to Count - This one was definitely the hardest one for me. The thing about being a freelancer or solopreneur is that you are a business. So you have to start doing accounting like one. How much money are you making? How much are you spending? How long does each job take? What time of year is most busy, and what time of year is not? These are all questions that can only be answered best when you’ve been keeping track of the numbers. Want to go on vacation? Well, probably don’t go in September when your best clients usually reach out. Also perhaps this year is going really well so you can take that trip to Japan you’ve been thinking about. Keeping track of the numbers means that you need to stay organized and have a system. It might take a lot of time to get used to and it won't feel helpful in the short-term, but trust me, any decision becomes easier once you have relevant data to look at.
I'd like to note that just knowing these mindsets isn’t enough. Much of their value shows itself when you start to change your actions in small situations and really integrate new habits into your life.
I’d love to hear what you think! Do you agree with me? Is there an important mindset that I missed? Thanks for reading.