How to Believe in Yourself and Become a Better Freelancer
Venturing into freelancing can be a daunting prospect, especially if you’re fresh out of school or if you’ve worked your whole life in traditional 9 to 5 jobs. For one thing, you aren’t really sure if you’ll be able to find the projects you need to make a regular income. For another, you might actually still have some doubts about your own capabilities.
Nevertheless, freelancing can be a very rewarding experience. You’re making the decision that henceforth, you’ll be charting your own career path—no more horrible bosses, no more being forced to work with legitimately appalling colleagues or clients. Of course, having this free rein over your career still comes with a lot of responsibilities. It is only by having a positive frame of mind and the right amount of discipline that you can hope to actually become a successful freelancer.
How can you develop the right freelancer mindset and believe in your own skills and capabilities? Here are a few tips that you can follow.
Develop your assertiveness
One of the most important things that you can do to boost your confidence level as a freelancer is to learn how to be assertive. Assertiveness means having the ability to express your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs directly and honestly while still respecting the rights of the people around you. It means being able to stand up for yourself while knowing how to appropriately respond to others who might not agree with your views.
Learning how to be assertive is important in advancing your skills in managing your clients, suppliers, or partners. Improving your assertiveness allows you to communicate your needs and desires with assurance. It also allows you to stand up to abusive treatment from others. At the same time, having the ability to respect others also means gaining the respect of these people.
You can read this guide about being assertive as a creative professional to learn more about the subject.
Constantly update and develop your skills
For a lot of freelancers, it is tempting to fall into the trap of thinking that you are not good enough. This is counterproductive and to be avoided. It’s impossible to avoid these thoughts completely so if you do have them use them as a prompt to learn something new and improve your skill set.
As a creative professional or freelancer, there’s always room for self-improvement and new things to learn. Whether you’re a writer, a designer, a programmer, or a virtual assistant, you need to find time to improve your existing skills. You can take classes, attend seminars and workshops, or go to networking events where you can learn from other people in your field. Before you start learning something new it’s always useful to think strategically about how that new skill fits with the rest of your portfolio to be sure that it will help to make you more marketable and allow you to bring more value to your clients’ businesses.
Take pride in your work
As a freelancer, you should remember that you are working on developing your own brand, and the quality of your output will, in large part, determine the reputation that you build. It is not enough to accomplish your tasks halfheartedly or in a mediocre manner. Your clients have put their trust in you, so it is your responsibility to give them their money’s worthand give them your very best work. Be open to suggestions or criticisms, and be flexible in terms of making compromises.
Of course, you should never be afraid to celebrate your talent and creativity either. Again, be assertive when it comes to offering your own suggestions and ideas on how you can make each project better.
Also consider building an online portfolio where you can showcase your best work to prospective clients. It costs almost next to nothing to set up your own blog. Finally, when accepting new projects, always make sure that you are happy with the compensation you will be receiving. Never work for peanuts.
Edge out of your comfort zone
Being a freelancer often means being able to thrive on unpredictability. For instance, you could be dealt with the challenge of not being able to find enough clients or projects to work on. On the other hand, you could also be proffered opportunities you may never have expected or imagined.
Whether it’s getting a huge amount of workload, being invited to a speaking engagement, or being given an opportunity to work with a big client, be prepared to stray out of your comfort zone. Test the waters so that you can find out what else you are capable of.
Believing in yourself is one big key to becoming successful as a freelancer. Although developing confidence can take some time and effort, it is perfectly achievable when you put your heart and mind to it. Get started today!
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