How I Went From Stressed School Teacher to Zen-Like Freelance Writer
With no boss and working to my own schedule
Back in 2016, at the age of 37, I reached a low point in my life.
What should have been a joyous occasion — the birth of my third daughter — was tainted by the amount of stress I was under at work.
At the time, I was teaching mathematics in a failing school.
There was little support from the senior team and the kids were out of control. It felt like they ran the school, not the teachers.
After two weeks paternity leave, I couldn’t face going back.
So I didn’t.
I took stress leave and handed in my notice.
Fortunately, during the summer holidays the year before, I had started doing some freelance copywriting for clients through Upwork.
It was something I really enjoyed and saw the potential to go full-time. I decided to make a go of it.
It turned out to be a great decision, even though it hasn’t always been easy.
The “free” bit of freelance writing is worth the effort
The truth about life is — nothing worthwhile comes without some kind of friction.
It took me a long time to realise this simple truth, but it finally sunk in when I started writing for a living.
Fortunately, with online writing you can minimise the friction by earning while you learn.
If you’re looking to build a writing career, of all the available options, freelance writing needs the least effort to get started.
You can read a few books on copywriting and content writing or take a couple of online courses, and you’re good to go.
It’s easy to build a website and LinkedIn profile, then start reaching out to people.
Alternatively, you can do what I did, which is build a good reputation on a freelance platform like Upwork or Fiverr.
Once you’ve built a reputation as a good freelance writer who delivers high quality work on time, you’ll never be short of clients. I regularly get 10+ invitations per week on Upwork, as well as clients through recommendations and through LinkedIn.
That’s the thing — content writing is in huge demand. The entire internet is built on written content — not just blog posts and website content, but most videos need scripts too.
Don’t listen to the naysayers who say that online writing is saturated and there are no clients out there. My experience has been the exact opposite. The people saying that are probably the ones who gave up at the first hurdle and spend the rest of their lives complaining about it.
If you’re a good writer with some creative ideas, and you’re good at solving problems for business owners — you won’t have too much trouble finding work.
The biggest problem you’ll face is how to get good clients to first of all find you, then trust you enough to hire you. I can help with that.
Over the next few months, I’m going to be sharing some top tips on how to get started and get noticed as a freelance writer.
It’ll be the kind of advice you can apply in your spare time — 30 minutes to one hour per day — to get you off on the right track.
Believe me — the effort is worthwhile. If you become a successful freelance writer, you’ll unlock a lifestyle that’s better than most people dream of.
Create your own bliss
Most of my life is pretty blissful now.
After putting in a couple of hours of client work first thing in the morning, I walk my dog in my local park.
Then a few more hours of client work.
By midday, I’ve finished the heavy lifting for the day. The afternoon is for admin tasks, video calls, and creative projects. The evening is for family time and relaxation, and maybe a bit more writing if I feel up to it.
I get plenty of time throughout the day to meditate and live a peaceful, quiet life — just the way I like it.
It’s a good life and there’s no way I’d trade it for my old life of stress and overwhelm.
The good news is — this kind of life is available to you.
Or, even better, you can design your own version of it.
We live in an age where you can more or less create your own dream life.
You don’t need permission anymore.
If you learn to write in a way that gets people’s attention, holds it for a while, and gets people to buy products or services once in a while — you’ll make a good living.
If you’re thinking about starting out as a freelance writer, then sign up for my newsletter here: https://onepercentwriter.substack.com/subscribe
