Freelancing has changed my life. All those “wellness” goals I’d been fighting to pull off while employed? They kind of…just happened once I went freelance.
Sleeping better.
Spending more time outside.
Consuming less sugar.
Eating less processed food.
Rushing less and being present.
They, along with 40lbs just gradually coming off with minimal effort, almost magically fell into place when I started working for myself…and that’s for one reason…
Those issues existed because my job was treating me terribly.
On its face, that was hard to see. I was only working around 40hrs a week (plenty of people I knew were doing 60+). I worked in an office with a startup-casual dress culture. I had my own office and was earning more than the median household salary in my area as a single woman. I got to make my own schedule, had time to travel internationally, and took my lunches on the beach.
But my life was…muted…dedicated to surviving the pressures of my job. And I wasn’t alone.
Everyone at the company had shaped their lives—from eating and sleeping habits, to dating, and even family planning—around a company which, even on a good day, was chaos in a bottle.
It was normal, but it wasn’t healthy (or sustainable…my coworkers used to one-up each other over ER trips from exhaustion and stress). Once that dynamic was snatched from the center of my life, almost all the problems that came with it…well they vaporized.
After years of burning will power and weekends on meal prepping, undoing the effects of revenge bedtime procrastination (which is basically impossible, but I tried), and trying to cram the activities I actually enjoyed into the few hours of waking down time I had every week, it all became ridiculously simple. My diet wasn’t a fight anymore (this TikTok on when calorie deficits don’t really work explains the weight loss well), sleep hygiene became intuitive, and jiu jitsu gardening and dining out were happening when I wanted them to.
I decided to go freelance, moving into writing and content marketing in my same industry. But then I had a decision to make. As a self-employed person, how was I going to shape my work life? Was I going to replicate what I’d known in my 9-5 or was I going to envision and execute on something better?
Was I going to treat myself better than my previous employer had?
I decided that I had an opportunity. I was out of the rat race for a moment and I knew that I needed to build the safety and sustainability that I’d had as an employee, and I needed to do it quickly. If I didn’t, I’d be tempted to jump right back in.
That’s why, from the very beginning, eight years ago as a freelancer, I prioritized a few mindset shifts and business goals.
- I needed to see myself as both freelancer AND business owner: Meaning it was my job not only to get the work done, but to make solid business decisions that provided me a great life as an employee of my own company.
- I needed to up my abilities as a sales person: I hated sales, which is why I tackled it almost right out of the gate with coaching and a few podcasts focused on sales in my industry.
- I needed to take marketing seriously. This was in terms of positioning, pricing, advertising, value statement creation—I needed to approach all of them just like a larger company focused on growth and sustainability.
- I needed to trust that a better life was possible: When I first started I had a vision of working half time and making twice what I earned while employed. I got there and it was great—and then a coach let me know I could make that number 4x while still working part time and not centering my life on my career.
- I needed to make things formal: From starting an S-corp and putting myself on salary to setting formal work hours (so I don’t creep back to 40 hrs a week), I put hard numbers and processes behind my goals.
And that’s how I became the best employer I’ve ever had. It’s still something I’m working on, but I’m light years ahead of even the jobs people told me I should be thankful for while keeping my head down and climbing the ladder…which is how I know all that was only the beginning.
