Maintaining the proper perspective

Earlier today I was feeling doubtful about my ability to make a living as a freelance writer. After spending a couple of hours this morning applying for gigs, I did about $50 worth of writing and then gave in to the urge to take an afternoon nap (what can I say, it’s Monday, I was dragging). After waking up, I wrote a quick $5 assignment, and then it was time to head to my yoga class.

So, I made $55 today. Not exactly enough to live on, and about 1/3 what I need to earn daily to match my former salary. Can I really make this work? Can I earn enough to maintain my standard of living and continue to pay off my credit cards? Can I learn to write faster? Am I going to be able to find higher-paying gigs? This is what I was thinking as I was driving to yoga. And then, another thought occurred to me, one that went something like this: Why not? Look at all the goals you’ve already accomplished.

Several months ago, when I first started embarking on this freelancing endeavor, I started writing down my goals daily (well, at least semi-regularly). I wrote an article about goal-setting for Want to Freelance back in March; you can read it here. The material is based on some self-improvement programs I was listening to at the time, which said that the act of writing down your goals programs them into your subconscious, and your subconscious mind can begin working to make them a reality. Goals should also be written in the present tense. Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy, so when you feed it a statement in the present tense, it accepts it as fact and begins acting as if it were true.

Since I started freelancing full-time a couple of weeks ago (or alternatively, since I got fired, but I am choosing to think of it in more positive terms), I have been more diligent about writing down my goals in order to stay focused and keep a positive mindset. Daily income is one of these goals, as is confidently marketing my skills, learning to write faster, staying focused, and managing my time well. I do think I have made some improvements in these areas (well, with the exception of today’s nap).

As I was driving to yoga today, I started thinking about how much I have already accomplished. It was just a few months ago that I first started thinking about writing full-time, and now I am, or at least, I have the opportunity to do so. Sometimes it’s important to remember how far we’ve come in order to find the strength to keep going. So tonight I pulled out the little notebook in which I write down my goals, and took stock of a few that I’ve already met:

• January 26: “I work from home and have the ability to set my own hours. I can work as much as I want and I have the option to work more hours and earn more money.” Check, check, check.
• February 1: “I have a well-designed professional Web site that reflects my personality, adequately showcases my work, and is designed in CSS.” Still needs some work, but for the most part, check.
• February 18: “I have many writing projects that involve topics that are interesting and enlightening to me, such as personal growth, mind-body fitness, and green living.” Check, to a certain extent.
• March 5: “I am continuing to improve my rock-climbing and yoga skills.” Check, especially lately now that I have had more energy.

So there you go. In just a few months, I have accomplished some very important goals. There is no reason I can’t keep improving in the areas that I want to. It’s not going to happen right away. I just have to keep working at it, and try to improve a little bit every day. As Ryan said last week, it’s just like starting any new job. It’s going to take some time to really start being productive. I am probably going to have a lot of $55 days (or less!), but the important thing is to keep moving forward, keep focusing on my goals, and keep having faith in myself and in the universe.