Ever have a confidence wobble as a freelancer? Many people succumb to a little self-doubt now and then. Freelancers can be particularly prone as the nature of the work involves quite a large degree of doubt and risk.
A freelance confidence wobble can be brought on by anything such as a rejection email, a nightmare project or simply getting out of bed on the wrong side. I’ve had the occasional “oh-my-god-I-am-rubbish-and-I-will-never-work-again” moments too, especially in the early days of freelancing. The current barrage of economic doom doesn’t help much either. Self-doubt can come in the form of doubting your creative abilities, worrying that you won’t be able to get enough work in for the next few months or panicking about a new project.
What’s key is that you don’t dwell on the self-doubt and more importantly that you don’t let it impinge on your work success. These are some techniques that I use to get me back on track. Don’t worry you don’t need to start chanting self-congratulatory mantras or sticking motivational phrases up around the house just yet.
Take a walk down memory lane
Think back to projects that you’ve taken on in the past that initially terrified you, but which went well in the end. Even now, and I think it will probably always be the way, I get pretty stressed when I take on something outside my comfort zone. However, I know I’d be bored and not developing my business if I didn’t keep doing that. And now, I’m a little less manic in my panic as I know from past experience that it will almost always be alright on the night, as they say.
Look back over some past work that you’re really proud of to remind you that you have talent – after all, you’ve got this far for a reason.
Do some compliment-fishing in your inbox. Read over some past positive comments from clients on your work and bask in the glory.
What do you think?
Sometimes the isolation of working alone for freelancers can allow self-doubt to creep in. Also, the nature of busy working lives can sometimes mean that you only hear the “change this, tweak that, hate this, re-do that” feedback from clients because they understandably don’t always have time to go around patting people on the back. Be honest with yourself though and you’re likely to have less self-doubt.
If you have a sneaking suspicion something isn’t quite right with a piece of work (probably only to your hyper-sensitive eye, but still), listen to that inner voice. Of course, what’s most important is that the client is happy with the work in the end but if you always strive to turn in work that you are happy with and you listen to your gut instincts, clients’ amends and rejection emails are less likely to chip away at you.
Additionally, it can be hard when you work in a creative field and everyone’s a critic, but don’t take client amending and tinkering personally. It very rarely is. It might just be that they’ve had a slight re-think or they have developed a clearer idea of what they want. The goal is, after all, to come up with something that fits the clients’ needs.
Rejection recovery
Rejection does sting but it’s part of the job and the more you receive, the easier it gets. So, congratulations and enjoy a long career of non-stop rejection.
When I sent out speculative emails and applications when I first began freelancing, I was a hopeless optimist – I would wait by my email and pine by the phone. More often than not, the silence would be deafening. I now try to take a pessimists-are-never-disappointed approach and when I do get responses it makes my day (I should try to get out more, eh?). It’s also important to keep going. Don’t wait for one rejection, I mean response, before you send the next bright new hope out.
Keep it in perspective
One of the main things that also keeps me sane when I am working myself into a frenzy of self-doubt is to remind myself that it’s just work. Yes it matters and I care about it but at the end of the day nobody is going to die (sorry if there are any freelance brain surgeons out there). If I give myself a mental slap and stop to think about the worst-case scenario, it’s usually … not that bad and completely fixable.
How do you overcome a freelance confidence wobble? Or are you a lucky freelancer who doesn’t ‘do’ doubting? Come over to the forum to talk about it.
Feb 4, 2009
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