Stop Looking At Success Linearly (How To Be A Successful Freelancer)
Success isn’t a linear path.
I’ve built a career off of getting paid to learn about topics I like learning about. For example, I write podcast show notes for iTunes Top Rated podcasts and a multimillion dollar agency’s podcast. I spend an hour listening to a podcast and then I write an article based off of the content.
I listen, I learn, and I get a pay check.
As a freelance writer, you would assume that my next step is to start charging more for each article I write.
“Raise your rates until somebody says no.”
This is practical advice but it’s not the only advice to follow.
Yes, I should raise my rates as my skill level increases but I should also look for opportunities to learn about what I’ll need to know in six months, one year, five years, etc. from now.
This means that I’ll accept a lower paying job. For example, I recently started working with one of my client’s as her virtual assistant. I get paid $10–$15 an hour, which is a massive difference in what I get paid for writing content.
Once I explain my reasoning for this, people have one reaction.
“That’s brilliant.”
Through working with her, I’ve been able to see what a six figure entrepreneur’s schedule looks like. I’ve gotten to be the mediator between brand and influencer. I’ve been able to see rates that were previously behind a curtain. Not only have I learned what to expect as my writing business grows, I’ve learned what I need to do to make my future assistant’s job as easy as possible.
If you look at just the numbers, it would seem like I’ve failed. I’ve added a $10-$15 an hour job to my week when I’m used to getting paid quadruple.
In reality, I have never been so successful.
I work as a freelance writer and supplement my free time learning what I’ll need to know in the upcoming future, and getting a paycheck for it.
When we give success the filter of starting from $0 and moving progressively higher, we are the demise of our own potential.
Other examples of a non-linear progression that makes you more successful than others:
- Letting your business’s Instagram account lose followers-From the outside you have less of a following but your account has more engagement and you’re closer to having 1,000 true fans than an account with 100,000 uninterested followers
- Selling everything you own and living as minimally as possible-It looks like you have nothing but you’re going to be 10x more connected to the reality of life, able to go wherever opportunity calls, and aware of the burden of material items
- Taking a month out of work to go and solo travel the world-You’re taking a payout but the personal development and life experience will put you ten fold above your peers
Our potential is in what we don’t know.
And if that means you get paid less than your normal rate in order to learn how to do it, that doesn’t mean you aren’t on the path to success.
If anything, you are speeding past everybody else solely focused on their bank account, and not the bigger picture.
