Lessons learned the sixth month

Hey! I’m glad you’re back and welcome to another post on the things I’ve learned from freelancing fulltime six months in.

Plant seeds
Creating content, making a good impression, helping others - these are all little things we can do to plant seeds wherever we go. You have to help it grow but with time eventually it’ll bear fruit.
Be gracious
I’ve learned that no matter the outcome of a conversation or project it’s important to stay gracious and acknowledge the time spent on both ends. Money is a renewable resource but our time is not.
Take charge of the narrative
Something that I’m working on a lot is my openness to deal with conflict and resistance. I wouldn’t say I have an adverse reaction dealing with it, but I’m finding my own way to deal with it in a more positive but assertive way. One way I’m stretching my skills in this is by trying to go to events alone. Most times I go with friends and I think it may be affecting me negatively. By staying in my comfort zone I’m robbing myself of making new connections. I’m really excited to be going to SDX Interactive Day tomorrow and Fearless Conference in my hometown of Philly with my homegirl, the boss babe CEO behind FearlessCon, Melissa Alam. I hope to come out of my shell a little more and find a way to embrace these amazing interactions.
Invest in yourself
I was listening to the Psychology Podcast recently and they talked about our bandwidth of understanding being related to the tools we have in order to understand it. That’s when I remembered how important it is to invest in ourselves so we are equipped to deal with the challenges that will come. I’m currently working on both my living and working spaces since I’m home most days and was feeling the need to be in a place that induced both creativity and workflow.

After recently diving in on some business and marketing books, I switched things up to a few podcasts that give me tons of other perspectives that have so much to offer. If you’re interested or looking for some new ones to add to your library, give these a go:

Freelance to Founder by Millo
Logo Geek
The Psychology Podcast

I really like putting a podcast on for background because it gets me in the zone to learn and work while giving me new insights and ideas.
You’re not alone
After talking with some fellow freelancers, studio owners, and people of all creative backgrounds and tenure, one thing was clear - we all go through it. There’s something comforting and empowering knowing that we share the same burdens together, that it doesn’t really ever go away (but you get better at dealing with it), and that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a real sense of community and camaraderie in that.

Tomorrow I’ll be at SDX, an interactive day where San Diego creative professionals go through a series of workshops and lectures for a fun day of networking. I was lucky enough to receive a ticket from Hello Janitor and I can’t wait to share my experience with you guys.

Hope you’re all having a great week and hope to see some of you at SDX!