How Freelancers Keep The Excitement Of The New Year Fresh

Published by Sylvia Muikia on 1st February 2017, updated 21st March, 2017

What is it about the New Year that makes Freelance Writers excited?

Is it the endless possibilities we’re anticipating ahead.

Or are we longing for the fresh start a new year promises to bring?

So what is it about new moments and things that make Freelancers have a sense of expectation and hope that something good is awaiting them?

The last day of the year is one of the most celebrated time.

The atmosphere in the air is eccentric and largely positive. Full of celebration, pomp, thanksgiving and excitement. But is it sustainable?

Is it possible for Freelance Content Writers to keep the excitement fresh to the end of the year?

Let’s find out…..

Overview

What is Excitement?

The Science of Excitement + Infographics

How To Keep The Excitement

# 1 Tip — Focus on Positive Happy Thoughts

# 2 Tip — Goal setting

# 3 Tip — Develop a Schedule and a Rhythm for your life

Excitement Drainers

#1- Setbacks

#2- Negative Energy

#3- Discouragement

What is Excitement?

Excitement is a very fragile emotion. It is influenced both by internal and external factors, but largely we are in control of whether we chose to be excited or bored.

Excitement is a feeling you experience knowing something you’re really looking forward to is about to happen. It’s an expectation that something good is going to happen.

The Science of Excitement

Most people use the term excited and happy interchangeably to refer to the same thing. The reason excitement is such a powerful emotion is when you’re excited about something you send the right signals to your brain.

When you’re excited the brain releases certain chemicals referred to as “feel good” chemicals. These are Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphine. DOSE is the acronym coined for them.

Our concern here is on Serotonin. Serotonin helps sustain a feeling of happiness and assists in keeping our temperaments under control. It helps with easing nervousness, sleep and relieving despair.

Looking at your life with joyful anticipation and focusing on the right thoughts sends the correct message to your brain. These trigger the release of the “feel-good” chemicals, especially Serotonin. This perhaps is the single most important factor that will keep the excitement fresh to the end.

Obviously, this is not the only factor, they’re several other determinants and I will mention just a few.

The below infographic was published in www.gizmodo.com it explains “10 Scientific Ways To Be Happy” .

How To Keep The Excitement

# 1 Tip — Focus on Positive Happy Thoughts

What are you thinking and dwelling on? Is it positive or negative?

Your most dominant thoughts affect your feelings. Positive thoughts transmit the correct message to your brain triggering the release of the “feel-good” chemical called Serotonin.

Therefore we can’t ignore our thoughts and what we’re dwelling on. Start thinking good happy thoughts about yourself, your experiences, your work and your life in general. Look at the bright side of things.

Whether you are experiencing a challenging situation that is making you upset. Tell yourself it could have been worse but it’s not. Be at least grateful for this one fact.

Another tip is using what I call power words in your conversations to communicate the right message to your brain.

Replace negative sounding words with positive words that trigger positive happy thought s. Words that make you want to take action. For example;

· I Will rather than I’ll try

*I Can rather than I can’t

*Today rather than Someday

*Replace the word Problem with Opportunity

*Replace the word Difficult with Challenging.

# 2 Tip — Goal setting

Not just any kind of goals but SMART goals. These are the kind of goals that have proven to be successful when implemented well. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. For this article, I will not go into the procedure of setting goals.

For an online writer who is a freelancing, when the year starts you hit the ground running. And take your goals head on.

Let’s take for example your social media platforms?

What specific content marketing strategy goals do you have?

* You could decide for the first half of the year I will focus solely on producing two Facebook Live Videos every single week.

*You will commit to continuously learn every week how to produce better content for your Facebook Live Videos.

* You will actively engage with your Facebook audience before, during and after conducting Facebook Live.

The discipline of goal setting is important. Written down goals communicate to your brain that you’re committed to achieving them. They act as a reference point to check whether you’re still on course with your set goals.

When you achieve your goals and tick them off, it brings a sense of excitement and a realization that my goals are valid and achievable.

Just this feeling alone keeps you excited.

# 3 Tip — Develop a Schedule and a Rhythm for your life

Humans tend to flourish and thrive well in environments that have some form of predictability. We are comfortable with the familiar. It makes us feel safe and secure.

That is exactly what developing a schedule for your day does.

According to Cambridge Dictionary…..

“A Schedule is a list of planned activities or things to be done showing the times or dates when they are intended to happen or be done”

A schedule can also be described as an organized step by step procedure of doing certain tasks daily that is targeted at achieving a set goal or drawing you closer to achieving it.

It’s a routine you develop and stick to.

The actions we perform frequently without much effort are known as routines. Routines after some time tend to become monotonous and boring to some people.

But on the other hand, routines help us develop productive habits that get things done faster. While the unexpected may happen, a set schedule will help you manage any disruptions much effectively. It also helps you plan ahead.

Your body has a tendency to adapt and respond to a structured way of doing things. It becomes ingrained in your mind almost like a reflex action.

For example when you first develop your content marketing schedule as a Freelancer it may not be easy because of the adjustments you’re making to settle down and follow your schedule.

But if you keep doing it your brain and body will get it and adjust accordingly.

Everyone’s schedule is different depending on their lifestyle and what is important and a priority to them at a particular time and season. But the guiding principles are the same.

For example, a freelance writer may desire to earn $1000 dollars in the next two months. Developing a schedule for achieving this goal is necessary.

In order to succeed in any important endeavor, make it your number one priority and chances are you’ll succeed. Your schedule would involve one of the following activities.

* Have a written down simple plan of exactly how you intend to achieve this goal. And take daily actions towards accomplishing them.

*Batch all similar tasks together. Take all the topics you need to research on and batch them together. Do the same for your images and basically for everything you need to accomplish.

*Decide the place where you will settle down and write from and be there consistently daily at the same time.

*Focus on one particular batch of related tasks at a time that will lead you to achieve your goal of “earning your first $1000 dollars in the next two months”

* Have a daily word count that you target to write daily.

*Pitch to prospecting clients daily. Decide on how many pitch letters you will send out daily and be consistent about it.

*No matter what challenges you are experiencing stick to it, especially if your plan is right. If adjustments are necessary make them but stick to your course until you see success.

By following a particular schedule you give rhyme to your life and things begin to flow in harmony with your desire. Just like music has a rhythm so your life dances to a certain rhythm.

When you accomplish a task in your schedule you tend to feel happy and excited.

Remember in order to keep the excitement to the end, set SMART goals and develop a schedule and a rhythm to your life.

We can’t ignore the fact that they’ll be moments during the course of the year when you’ll not feel so excited. During these times you need to reevaluate yourself and look out for these three excitement drainers. They’ve the potential to sap all your excitement out of the door.

Excitement Drainers

#1- Setbacks

Life happens……..

Yes, it does.

It happened last year and I can guarantee it will happen this year too. It doesn’t matter how much we prepare ahead for it.

Life is full of uncertainties, things beyond your control happen.

Certain things happen and affect you perhaps because you took a wrong decision. Also the poor choices of other people may affect you.

Therefore the issue now is not in the happening but in how you deal with it, overcome it and move forward.

While your focus is not in the setback you still need to be aware that it does happen and find a way to deal with it.

The setbacks that happen during the course of the year are meant to distract you and break your focus and hinder your progress.

Plan ahead how you will deal with them. Ignoring them will not make them go away.

Recognize them, confront them and deal with what you can and leave what you can’t. After all, you’re not superman. You’re human.

A setback could be anything from financial loss, sickness, the death of a loved one, business closure, betrayal and broken relationships. Actually the list is endless.

Let’s take the example of financial loss…

· Acknowledge you are experiencing a financial setback.

· Come to terms with the situation. Count your losses.

· Ask yourself some honest questions- why did I experience financial loss? What did I do that I shouldn’t have done? Those kinds of questions.

· Do an audit of where you are right now financially. Consider seeking help from a financial coach or consultant.

· Develop a recovery back to financial freedom plan. And Implement it.

In spite of these setbacks pick yourself up and move on from where you stopped.

Take the next goal and begin implementing it and repeat the cycle all over again.

Before long if you had set SMART goals that are realistic for this year you will accomplish most if not all of them.

# 2 — Negative Energy

It’s still possible to keep the freshness and excitement the beginning of the year brings into the months that follow.

Negative energy is released when you always see everything in the worst possible way. This has a tendency to affect you and everyone around you.

And invites negativity in your space.

How to deal with Negative Energy

· Keep a grateful spirit and a thankful heart. Every evening before going to bed write at least five things you are thankful for and dwell on them. Chances are you will wake up feeling happier.

· Spend time with the right people who bring out the best in you. Surround yourself with positive and thankful people who chose to see good even in bad situations. People who celebrate you and not tolerate you.

· Declutter your space. Clutter has a way of making you feel crowded and releases negative energy around you. So get rid of excessive stuff, give it away and buy only the stuff you need.

I can tell you for free what you absolutely don’t need this year is negative energy, bad vibes and the likes of it. Do whatever you need to do to eliminate these and I guarantee you will accomplish much more than you did last year.

#3- Discouragement

Discouragement has a way of sapping excitement out of you so fast you wonder what happened. Especially if you allow yourself to wallow in it and focus on what is not happening in your life.

Ask yourself why I am feeling discouraged? These feelings come when you continually attempt doing something without success.

One way to deal with it is to have a conversation with yourself and evaluate the root cause of why you are starting to feel discouraged. Feelings of discouragement don’t just pop up. It’s normally a buildup of thoughts that eventually leave you experiencing discouragement.

Ask yourself some questions?

· What have I been thinking about lately? Your thoughts influence the way you feel.

· Do I need to review my goals? Did I set unrealistic goals? It could be that you’re trying to achieve something that’s clearly unrealistic at this moment.

· Am I being true to my authentic self? Or have I started comparing myself to others, resulting in feelings of inadequacy.

· Understand where your true strengthens lie. What comes natural to you? What are your skills and talents? Embrace them and keep developing them.

· Is it only work and no play? Take time to relax, sleep and engage in a hobby.

Some things you can do to overcome discouragement.

· Seek support from friends and those who bring out the best in you.

· Take time out to socialize with people who love and appreciate you.

· Engage in a hobby you love.

· Embrace your unique self and celebrate your difference. This is what distinguishes you from the crowd.

· Have some ME time and recapture your true self and get away for the weekend and just hang out with you.

· Soak in a bubble bath, take a walk and enjoy the fresh air of the countryside and get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

· Ran your race and keep your pace — avoid comparisons.

Do whatever you need to do but never forget to be good to yourself too.

It’s totally acceptable……

Setbacks, negative energy, and discouragement are some excitement drainers that come to sap all the excitement out of you. Now you know what to do when they come knocking.

Wrapping it up

Maintaining your excitement throughout the year is a decision of your will. Serotonin will help you sustain a feeling of happiness and assist in keeping your temperaments under control.

Goal setting, developing a schedule and rhythm of life coupled with dealing with the excitement drainers will help you stay excited.

Setbacks, Negative Energy, and Discouragement are some excitement drainers that may come along your path this year to distract and break your focus. Don’t let them.

As the first quarter of the year is coming to a close, let’s continue to embrace the year with great expectation and excitement and know your dreams are valid and achievable.

And you truly can keep the excitement of the New Year fresh.

What are some of the things that you do to keep excited throughout the year?

The second quarter of the year has just began. How have you managed to STAY EXCITED this year. I would like to hear how. Leave a comment and let me know!

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Connect with me at @sylviawrites