Too Much Pride and Freelancing Don’t Mix
If you don’t know me personally, I want you to know that I’m a very prideful person. It’s a gift and a curse. I think it’s okay to have pride about the right things. Having too much pride about anything can hold and set you back. I’ll tell you that from experience.
I’ve made it to a little more than eight months of freelancing, meaning no steady job, having to look for work, and trying to find multiple streams of income. The first few months were easy. I had a handful of referrals that held me down financially and let me have peace of mind for this “leap”, as people would call it, that is freelance. A few more months go by and things slow down. It’s only to be expected. Like I’ve said in a previous article, maybe not, but I’m more of a B student when it comes to graphic design. My mind wanders and my interests are vast.
Anyways, this is a topic I’ve thought a lot about for a while, so I’ve broken down why having too much pride and freelancing don’t mix to a few points.
You won’t always get the projects that you want.
From previous experience working a design job, I’ve found that you don’t always get the projects that you want. You can get a series of projects that pique your interest and create things that you’re proud of, then right afterwards, you can get hit with gigs that simply pay the bills. The spoiled attitude and pride that you have that makes you feel like you deserve more than what you’re getting can be toxic to your career. I’ve confronted this issue before and immediately learned that I can’t be too picky. After all, beggars can’t be choosers. A paying gig is a paying gig at the end of the day, you don’t have to enjoy it, but it’ll pay the bills.
Free time is costing you a lot more at the end of the day.
Okay, I admit it, this might be a Drake line from Views, but it’s very true. I used to have a lot of pride in the fact that as a freelancer, I am the one in control of my time, schedule, and routine. After months of freelancing, I learned that this is not the case. You need to work harder than you did at a regular design job. You need to make ends meet. You need to learn how to make time for work, for others, and most importantly, yourself.
Taking Ls will be a normal thing.
Taking an L means to take a loss. Sure, we take losses everyday, but to be quite honest, as a freelancer, it becomes a much bigger deal than you’re used to. At times, they’ll pile up, but remember, take it one day at a time. I once told a friend that I was in a slump and nothing was going according to plan and they simply said that there will be highs and lows and that I’m at a low, but that means that I’m on my way to a high. That put my mind at ease. In general, taking and making more calculated steps and actions in your freelance career will likely lessen the chance of you taking an L.
Don’t let pride cloud your judgment.
Quite often, pride clouds my judgment. What seems like a productive solution to an issue, to me, sometimes appears as a step back or another loss or simply something I don’t want to do. For example, a few months ago, I would always say, I’m never going to take another job or work for anybody again. Sure, that would be possible with something that provides me regular, regular passive income, steady clients and contracts, or a savings account with multiple commas. Honestly, that’s not the case. Eight months into freelancing and reality has set in. Believe me, I do believe in myself and I do know I’m capable of working for myself for the rest of my days, but I’ve learned that letting go isn’t the same as giving up. I guess what I’m saying is, is that I’m now open to working a job and having a boss, but at the same time, knowing it’s not forever.
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A couple of people here and there have gotten in contact with me about making that move to freelance, so I just wanted to share my experience with them as well as you. I hope I didn’t deter you from making that move. It’s truly a rewarding experience and you’ll learn a lot. I’m still learning and growing every day. If you want to make it work, you’ll find a way. This day and age, you can make a buck doing anything. Social media, the internet, and technology have opened doors and opportunities that weren’t available to the generation before us, so it’s up to us to find out for ourselves. If one way doesn’t work, there’s another. There’s no rush to “make it” or “find ourselves”, but I do agree that the sooner, the better. So do what you want, make mistakes, learn, and try again. You’ll get to where you want to be.
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Reach Out
Maybe I’ll write more, maybe I won’t, but you can always see what I’m up to via Twitter or Instagram.
Shoot me an email, too, at holler@veeejzilla.com.
