{"id":56,"date":"2014-06-05T14:43:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T18:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/?p=56"},"modified":"2021-10-19T14:17:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T18:17:32","slug":"how-freelancing-has-made-me-a-better-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/how-freelancing-has-made-me-a-better-person\/","title":{"rendered":"How Freelancing Has Made Me a Better Person"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I started freelancing for the flexibility, travel opportunities and just to be my own boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d never had expected that running a business was also good for me, as a human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought I\u2019d share this week the ways freelancing has made me a better person<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

FORCED ME TO LOOK AT MY \u201cMONEY ISSUES\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

People get weird about money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quickest way to stay poor as a freelancer is to stay weird about money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The income in my business is in direct proportion to how I feel about my own worth and asking for the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was sceptic about \u201cmanifesting\u201d, \u201cabundant psychology\u201d and \u201cclearing your money blocks\u201d. That is, until I hit some lean months. I put some work into valuing myself, examining the money values and setting feel good goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I realized, If I don\u2019t believe in my work, how could a client?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits of tackling my money issues didn\u2019t end with my bottom line. It\u2019s improved my confidence, my communication skills with my partner and helped me to be more forgiving of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I\u2019M BETTER AT MAKING FRIENDS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Growing up, my friends were fellow students. When I got into the workplace, my friends were colleagues. I choose friends by the defaults of proximity and interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a freelancer, we don\u2019t have colleagues. This is one of the reasons I started FTF. I wanted to make friends, share knowledge and be part of a larger team not hindered by where we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I now easily build friendships and reach out to people in person and online. I send and receive emails that sounds a lot like: \u201cHey, I love your website. We should be friends. Want to skype?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NO EXCUSES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The double edged sword of working for yourself is that there is no one to make sure I didn\u2019t forget anything. No one to enforce an 8 hour work day. No one to call when I\u2019m sick and can\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all up to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no excuses when you\u2019re a freelancer. Clients pay me to do the work and so the work needs to get done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has allowed me to take greater responsibility in all areas of my life. With that \u201cno excuses\u201d approach I feel more confident about what I can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019M BETTER AT TAKING CARE OF MYSELF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My work suffers when I burn out. When my work suffers, I suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I worked for someone else, I didn\u2019t notice. There were colleagues to check the mistakes, lower expectations of me in general and I could always call in sick if I needed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I eat well, sleep well and get exercise. If I don\u2019t, I burn out fast. I\u2019ve even taken up meditating with my Headspace App<\/a> as a way to keep my mind fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slowly over time, I\u2019m learning what I need to do to keep the work humming both personally and professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GIVING & RECEIVING<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The saying \u201cthe more you give, the more you receive\u201d has never been more true for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to write off that statement in a 9-5 corporate job that doesn\u2019t care about you<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one-on-one in my business, I see it in everything. I see it in Freelance to Freedom and the community<\/a> that grows and gives. I see it in how well Stress Less & Impress<\/a> was received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s simply answering questions in Facebook groups, putting out helpful free info on my blog or going above and beyond what my clients are paying me for, the more I give freely, the more clients and friendships and freedom I receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyday I see in REAL time how you receive when you give. This inspires me to be more of service to others in every area of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOUNDARIES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoundaries\u201d was a word I used to hate. It evoked feelings of conflict and fear. Now I see boundaries as a way to set myself free. I set boundaries with both clients and myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s 10 o\u2019clock and I haven\u2019t seen jazz hands (thats my French man), I force myself to stop and spend some time with him before going to bed. That\u2019s a boundary. Previously, I myself pushed harder and would work until 2 or 4am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m clear with my clients, my partner and my family what I can and cannot offer. When I need me time, I know I have to take it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, there is less conflict in my life than before because I set the boundaries and ask other to respect them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has freelancing made you a better person? I\u2019d love to hear all about it in the comments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"-Leah\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I started freelancing for the flexibility, travel opportunities and just to be my own boss. I\u2019d never had expected that running a business was also good for me, as a human being. I thought I\u2019d share this week the ways freelancing has made me a better person FORCED ME TO LOOK AT MY \u201cMONEY ISSUES\u201d … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}