What gets in the way of your freelance success?
It could be anything from lack of assignments to fear of networking (or something).
For me, it’s overcommitment.
I don’t mean to get overcommitted.
I say “no.” Often. But lately, I’ve been feeling the pressure of overcommitment.
Here’s just a partial list of my professional commitments right now:
Like you, I don’t want to be “too busy” for new work. Like you, I don’t want to be crushed by the weight of too many obligations. Like you, I want to be like Goldilocks: just right. Just right with my workload. Just right with my time management. Just right with my work-life balance.
My solution … and yours … is focus.
For the aforementioned awards entry essay, I interviewed my client. He shared with me that he grew a $20 million business from a $150,000 start-up a decade ago through pure, unadulterated focus.
What he said was, “I set standards, and then I’m disciplined and diligent in doing the right things correctly over and over again.”
That’s focus.
For me, it’s about picking and choosing clients, assignments and business ideas that are only in the niche I’m creating. Everything outside needs to go on my un-do list. This type of focus helps me constantly re-evaluate what it is I really want from my business and who I really want to work with.
There are some things I’m doing that I no longer have interest in doing. And so I’m working on an exit strategy.
What about you? Do you need to stop saying “yes” to every opportunity? What would happen if you did? Would you create breathing room in your life? Would saying “no” allow you to help another writer by connecting the project to someone better suited? Would it force you to discover your own niche or specialty? Would it terrify or thrill you?
I hope that, like me, you’re taking a serious look at the idea of focus—and then go about the business of doing it.
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I love your questions: Do you need to stop saying “yes” to every opportunity? What would happen if you did?
That’s exactly where I get stuck. Opportunities come, and I find myself saying yes – out of fear that this is “the only opportunity, I better grab it!” I then justify the low pay and short time line by saying, “well, it’s better than no work at all.”
I think it’s all a matter of self-esteem. Not feeling myself worthy of more money, or better treatment.
Thanks for all your great insight into the life of a successful freelance writer – and I truly do consider you a success. You’ve got a relatively constant flow of clients, and have a whole lotta focus! Thanks for asking me about my standards, and that hugely important question, “What do you need to be disciplined and diligent about, again and again?”
Yes! Exactly, Kim. That famine/unworthiness cord seems to have hold of so many of us. What I find helps is having other, trusted writers to encourage me to be courageous enough to command (not demand) to be valued in the way I’m treated and compensated. I am thankful to have word of mouth referrals and great clients. Do I fear lack, though? Absolutely. Like all writers, there are times I’m alone in my head pondering the “what ifs” of the writer’s life. You are a tremendously gifted writer, my friend. Looking forward to hearing more from you on your blog, http://thewomanwriter.com.