I'm not usually one to make bold statements like this online but...
If you're working 9-5 as a freelancer, you might as well be working a 9-5 job that pays you regularly. Or else, what's the point?
In my quarterly call with the fall 2022 Freelancer Boot Camp cohort today, our conversation quickly turned to how hard the outdoors industry has felt lately, especially for freelancers.
The repeated ghosting. Clients slashing budgets or not renewing contracts. A grim outlook for the future.
But the question we all mulled over was: how do we remain ourselves, as whole people, through times of uncertainty?
The common thread in everyone's answers? Taking care of yourself. Embracing the new time spent not working. Making space for other parts of ourselves.
Hence, this statement. Because at the end of the day, if you're a freelancer who is sitting in front of your computer 9-5 (or rather 8-8), what's the point of running your own business?!
You might as well be working a job, and one that pays you every 2 weeks. We forget why we started these businesses in the first place.
The lesson we can all (myself included!) learn:
Don't sit at your computer and spend the entire day checking you empty inbox, hanging out with your worst Saboteurs. It's not going to work. It's not going to land you a new client. It's not going to grow your business. It's only going to make you feel powerless.
Go outside. Take care of yourself. Honor other parts of you. Give yourself credit for your efforts, not just the outcomes. Spend time on something you can't monetize. Build a new skill for the fun of it. Get off social media. Daydream. Sketch something. Read something for fun. Spend time with loved ones. Honor your values. Allow yourself to breathe life back into yourself so that you can wake up tomorrow and try again.
Isn't that why you created your business in the first place?