I got some comments on my last post that got me thinking about my current “full-time” freelance goals. Last winter, when I decided I was going to start making the transition towards full time freelancing I was hit with on overwhelming feeling of flat out FEAR. The main questions that kept popping up in my head weren’t about how I going was to keep consistent work, but more about the nitty gritty details (process, contracts, taxes, resources, etc). I realized that my heart was already set on making this freelance thing work, but my mind needed a little catching up to do.
I decided that instead of working a gazillion weekends on freelance projects, that I would spent a big chunck of my “free” time to start researching everything I could about the freelance business. I started to ask around to those I knew had already made the leap (which was insanely helpful) and start to work through the fine details. Yes, I’m still taking on freelance jobs that inspire me, but a lot of my time has been turned toward researching how to streamline my design process so that others understand me, create formal contract and process documents that I can send to potential clients, gather online resources that can help me along the way, and of course…keep networking.
I’ve found this system to be working so far. Every day I spend about an hour working on making my dream come true. My hopes that are when I am fully ready to make the full time freelance leap, that both my heart and mind will come together and have a party. We shall see 🙂
“Getting comfortable with discomfort is one of the first steps to not letting fear be a factor in making your decisions. Playing big means stepping beyond your normal and what you usually do. It means putting yourself out there in new and exciting ways. It means spending a LOT of time in the land of discomfort.” – Tiffany Moore (Paper N Stitch Blog)