Simplify your way to Freelance Success

February 28, 2008

In a previous post, I talked about how simplifying your life can actually help you reach your freelance goals faster.

It would be fair to say that our typical “middle class” lives are busy, overcommitted, and costly. Costly in terms of how much we need to earn to maintain our lifestyles and costly in terms of how much time we devote to earning that money.

Fortunately, we don’t have to keep up this pace. We can choose to step out of the race and choose to live the life we dream about.

So, what does simplifying mean? And how does it apply to starting a freelance business?

So many books (and blogs) are written on how we can simplify our lives. But many are too extreme or not extreme enough.

I have a cell phone but I don’t use it that much. So, getting rid of my cell phone wouldn’t be that hard. However, for someone else, losing their cell phone would be catastrophic.

So, “simplifying” is not only highly personal, it may actually change as circumstances change. What simplifying does, from a freelancing perspective, is allow you to carve out more time for your freelance business. And time is the one thing you’ll need more than money when you’re starting out.

For example, start by paying off your debt, smaller amounts first. This will give you breathing room so you can cut back on overtime hours at work. Remember that each debt you pay off is actually a raise that goes straight to your bottom line. Get enough of these “raises” and you might actually be able to switch to a part-time job.

Also remember to only make changes that actually simplify your life. And don’t eliminate things that are really important. You’re not trying to punish yourself. You’re trying to adjust your life to accomodate something new. This takes time and doesn’t always lead to perfection.

So, feel free to experiment, adjust, and change the decisions you make. If you want to be different, you have to start acting different.

Like it? Share it!