Lessons learned the third month
Lessons learned the third month
Hey guys! Good to see you here again. Thanks for following along on this journey thus far. What an incredible experience this last month was. I’m stoked to share my main takeaways and hope you find some value in these experiences as well.
Set clear and manageable goals
And reward yourself when you reach it to keep the positive feeling of accomplishment going. Sounds clichè but this might be the single most effective motivator for me. Last year I tried to write down all of my goals in the beginning of the year (how’s your New Year’s resolution btw?) and preemptively wrote down notes to myself to check-in on the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th month following. It helped. A lot. It’s easy for our goals to be out of sight and out of mind once we’ve written them down in the beginning of the year. But by accessing that information again incrementally as the year went, I didn’t give myself the chance to forget it. This year I tried something different by having it on a whiteboard right outside my bedroom door and on some post-it notes on my bathroom mirror. So far so good and I feel like I’m ingraining it in more and more each day. The overarching goal (outside of income, and keeping up with social media, etc.) was to achieve a lifestyle change that will enable me to succeed and kick ass in my first full year of freelancing as much as I could. Basically, I wanted to give myself the best chances of succeeding by setting up a new routine and way of thinking in the earliest stages. And hopefully by keeping my goals manageable (and celebrating them), in sight and in mind, I can come out of my first year stronger with capital to go on for the years to come.It’s OK to worry
It’s just part of the game but don’t let it take over. I went full-time freelance for many reasons similar to those who’ve trekked the road before me. I wanted autonomy and control over my life. I wanted control over the work I did and how I did it. To develop a process I was proud of that might in turn give me the fulfillment in my work that I had been searching for. And one day it hit me - this is what it takes, am I cut out for it? I sit with the ideas and feelings and just let them be. I accepted it and proceeded to make a game plan. We accept the challenge, we GP, then we execute. From there we see what works and what doesn’t and adjust the plan accordingly.Push comes to shove, you’re stronger than you think
Pressure is tough. It can break you. But from it can also come really magnificent things (like diamonds). When you’re out of ideas, sometimes the best thing to do is put it down, do something, and circle back to it. Go easy on yourself because quite frankly, you don’t know everything but it doesn’t mean you won’t solve it.
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to go to Cuba and man did that put me through some rough stuff. Everyday of the week we ran into money issues, lodging, communication, running out of food, potentially getting stranded at the beach and might have to walk back to the city in pitch blackness. You get it. We got pushed into some tight spots where we had no option but to stick together, put our best ideas forward and just keep going. It was a group effort for sure and I’m very lucky to be with the people I was with. I don’t know that we would’ve done better with other people, haha. But my point is, that trip did me wonders. It put so many things into perspective and really reenergized me to hit the ground running as soon as I got back. It forced me to pull out some skills I hadn’t used in years and really reminded me that I don’t give myself enough credit. So it’s OK to worry about money and clients and all of that, but remember that you’re stronger than you think and you’re going to figure it out because you’re going to have to.Failure is inevitable
But what you do with it is what matters. Going through it with fear of failure or refusal to accept its inevitability will only be a disservice. It’s as if saying that we can skirt through life without problems. These little hiccups and friction are here to help you. If we can shift our focus from failure as something negative to instead an opportunity to learn, we can gain more insight to our current situation of why it didn’t work out and see what’s necessary to resolve it and move forward. Also note that failure looks different to everyone and that’s OK. It’s all about your perspective. Just keep going. You’re still a different version of you today versus yesterday and one step closer to your goal.Educate yourself
This one’s my favorite also because I’m a sucker for self-improvement. I was watching an episode of The Futur on whether or not you should go to art school and why many people are still considering the traditional route to having a successful career albeit the cost of education. Of course this has been popular opinion and a tried and true path to success (also relative), but we now live in an age where information has never been so freely accessible. And that’s really exciting. Chris Do points out that just because you are entering an industry (or any kind of industry for that matter) without formal education doesn’t mean you don’t need to get educated. The operative words we’re looking for here is self-study. You still need to learn and educate yourself, only now with more control over your time and money and so the accountability changes from student to now teacher-student-employee-etc. But regardless, it’s something we still all need to take part in.
Elaborating a little more on self-improvement, here are two books I finished recently with lots of great insight that might help you as well:
The Power of Broke
How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage
So Good They Can’t Ignore You
Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
I’m trying to build a library on career-help books and self improvement. Send some suggestions my way if you have any and hope you have a great week ahead.