The mindset we tote around daily is vital to how we live, perceive, and react and it helps with your daily habit as a freelancer.
It might as well be your greatest asset to sticking through the rough spots – and ultimately, your career.
You have to turn your job into your skill, your skill into your passion, and your passion into a daily habit.
So if freelancing is your mission, then you’re going to want to harness daily habits for your mindset that will help you succeed.
But you might be confused as to how you’re actually supposed to do this.
Upfront, creating the right mindset is all about daily habits. You have to make this thought process consistent action. Then it will be rooted inside of your brain.
You won’t have to think about it after that!
Here are a few good daily habits to make this new mindset a priority as a freelancer
1. Write as Much as Possible
One daily habit is to write as much as possible, but no just to get better at your craft.
You can be excellent at writing and still not be in the right mindset. If you’re a freelance writer, writing is probably one of your passions.
When you continuously exercise your passion it engrains into your head. This is where the habit comes in – and that habit is the base of the mindset.
You have to turn your job into your skill, your skill into your passion, and your passion into a daily habit.
Save drafts, random ideas, posts to your own blog, etc. Whatever writing you can do in your spare time (and feel up for), do it!
Depending on where you are now, this could take some time. Changing habits that hold this new tactic back can be tough. But the eventual success will be great for your freelance business.
2. Remind Yourself of Your Goals
Daily habits around goals are very powerful and that is is why vision boards are so effective.
They get a lot of mixed opinion and flack, but you need to understand the power that can come from visualization.
Your goals are already motivating you to pursue your freelance career – but are you taking full advantage of them?
Keep your goals present at all times – even physically in front of you, if you want.
Write down your goals on a sticky note and keep it within your view. List them on your desktop or phone wallpaper. Set alarms on your phone for random times of the day that shoot the affirmation of what’s to come when your efforts pay off.
Or post them on Instagram like freelance writer Elna Cain did.
Whether it be independence of your family, escaping your agonizing job, saving college funds for your kids, or making extra money for yourself, it doesn’t matter.
Remind yourself every single day of your goals to reinforce your mindset and the drive of willpower.
3. Remind Yourself of Your New Role as a Freelancer
Not everyone wants to be a freelancer or solopreneur.
Self-employment doesn’t rub off well with people who are stuck on the traditional idea of job security.
There are millions and millions of people out there who wish they had the guts to do what you’re doing right now. What’s unfortunate is that they’re too afraid to go for it despite their misery!
According to an article by Psychology Today,
“Surveys of workers suggest that there has been a steady decline in workplace happiness over the past decade, with almost a 10% drop in just the last 3 years, from about 50% to 41%. Who are the least happy workers? Lineworkers and younger workers. Many of these employees feel a sense of pessimism about their working futures.”
Though freelancers aren’t a dying breed – nor are we better than the people who are disinterested in freelancing – you need to understand that you’re breaking away from these depressing statistics.
More people in society are just going through the motions rather than taking action.
You’re taking action with these daily habits, and it’s something that should be empowering you!
4. Keep at That Action
One of the greatest hurdles in being a freelancer of any kind is self-discipline.
You can’t expect anything to come of your work if you don’t actually show up and continue to do so.
Self-discipline is, once again, a pure habit that you need to adopt daily.
It has to be exercised. Thankfully, the previous advice should help carve the self-discipline into your brain. There has to be a reward complex that comes with the daily habit of doing the things you don’t want to do.
The rewards in themselves are the fruits of your labor as a freelancer. They may not come quickly, but their significance in your life is vital to your mindset.
Not only that, but once the daily habit of self-discipline is stressed enough in your life, the satisfaction of completion will become drive in itself.
4. Embrace All Your Mistakes
You’re going to make mistakes as a freelancer.
It’s bound to happen at least once in every aspect of your business. Whether it’s spelling and grammar, forgetting to follow up with a client, or sending in the wrong draft, you need to realize that you’re a human.
These things happen, and you don’t have to know the reason or make up an excuse.
Humans are built upon a platform of learned mistakes. There is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to goofing up – as long as you grow and change. Letting that terrible cold pitch or rejection eat away at you is never going to help.
Make it a part of your mindset to leave that stuff in the past and make it a daily habit. Let it go or self-destruct!
5. Learn, Learn, Learn
The market is always changing. New avenues are being discovered. Maybe there’s an old tactic that not enough people have tapped into? A niche you’d like to explore? A way you could make your portfolio look better?
Soak it up. A good mindset withstands the valuable weight of knowledge.
Learning as much as possible in any field is a great tactic to get ahead and better yourself as an overall solopreneur.
You’re a curator of knowledge that someone out there is looking for. The information you provide businesses are going straight to their leads and customers.
It’s a great feeling to look at it from that angle!
Never back down from learning anything and everything that is of interest or value to you.
6. Don’t Forget to Be Alive
The freelancer is not alone. You’re a human being who needs breaks, hobbies, relaxation, and adventure.
Part of the mindset you have to take on is one that can be put aside.
We often let our jobs swallow us whole. I have to admit that I’m jealous of those who leave work at work. As freelancers, work is consistently on our tables, in our rooms, following us around, and in our heads.
Too much of a good thing, anyone?
The freelance mindset is one to put on and take off when it’s time to live.
Don’t let the daily habits of learning, working, grinding, and so forth morph into toxic traits that become unhealthy.
Find the balance between your work mindset and yourself.
The fact that you’re a writer is a piece of yourself – but it’s not the whole of you. Relax once in a while, or this special mindset won’t benefit you in the ways that it should.
Conclusion
Whether we recognize it or not, we have a habitual mindset in every situation in our lives. There’s no problem with taking on new ones and tailoring them to fit ourselves as individuals.
Take the advice given here with a grain of salt. What’s best for you might not work for someone else, and vice versa.
Were there ever two freelancers in the same headspace at the same time? I highly doubt it!
Good luck with your daily habits in mindset training!
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