The Ultimate Guide To A Successful Freelancer Mindset

Have you ever wondered, what the difference is between those freelancers who are incredibly successful and are booked out for months at a time VS those who are constantly hustling for the next project? It turns out, that the most successful freelancers have a few things in common that set them apart from the rest. The number one thing on the list above everything else is a healthy mindset. One that is conducive to your goals, and one that doesn’t allow you to self-sabotage yourself in the process. In this article, we'll explore everything about what a mindset of a successful freelancer looks like.

The unique thing about the mind:

Most people fail in their business because they stop believing in themselves and their company's mission. You don’t lose to your competitors, you lose to yourself,?you quit.

Here’s the truth about the mind?– Whatever you?think, is?true.

As Confucius famously said:

“He who thinks he?can?and he who thinks he?cannot, are both usually right.

If you think it’s hard to get clients, then it is, if you think it’s impossible to make money doing what you love, then it’s impossible. If you think you are not good enough (that all too common?imposter syndrome), then you are not good enough.?It’s that simple.?So before moving forward with any topic you need to clear your mind a little.

Choose who you want to be;?your biggest fan?or?your greatest obstacle?

“It’s not how good you are, It’s how good you want to be” -?by Paul Arden.

The business mindset:

It’s a very, very simple mindset change that makes a real big difference. So, if you’ve ever met a freelancer who’s like; “Yeah, I’m hustlin’, I’m always looking for work, it’s just I’m chasing the dream man, I’m chasing the dream...”

What they’re doing is really job hunting over and over and over again. They’re not a business owner, the business?owns them, right. So, I want you to adopt the mindset that you’re a?business owner?and you are in control of?building your business.

Here are some things that struggling freelancers and business owners would not do.

Business owners are not gonna just sell their skills. They sell solutions VS a freelancer that’s like “I can create a video, I can create a logo”. That’s not necessarily a problem and is focused on the?output?–?not the?solution.

What the client actually needs, isn’t necessarily a video, logo, brochure, or even a website. They need more customers, they need to improve their presence, and they need to feel more trustworthy in their clients’ and customers’ eyes. That they need to improve their image. That they need to wow their customers when they come to their websites or events and buy their products or services. So here is a quick tip from now on –?always sell a solution.?Solution costs more than a skill. This means you can charge more for your?thinking?than your?doing.

So when clients call you, You just need to ask them?“why we are doing this?”,?“why do you need a video?”?They will tell you what business problem they are facing, and it’s your job to dig deeper to find the?problem behind the problem?– that’s it. You’re communicating that you are the expert, and you can then price the problem, not the skill.

Big?Mindset Shifts:

• Always sell the solutions, not skills.
• Don’t just rely on your portfolio to capture a sale.
• Don’t do everything in your business fast, identify your weaknesses and hire for that
• Don’t jump at every initial request from a client to create a video, be curious to find out more as to why they want it.
• Get comfortable about talking money.

Nobody cares as much as you think:

As a business owner, it’s really important to manage your emotions, we cannot be a slave to our emotions and namely fear. This is something that I struggled with in my career. As creatives, we constantly worry about what others think about our work and if we’re ‘good enough’. Here is a simple thing you need to understand – it’s better to be yourself and ‘different’ than to be vanilla. If you are doing unconventional then people might think “ugh it’s the weird video editor” but they’re only gonna think that for a minute and then they go to their lives and forget about it in no time. If you do something cool they might think “oh that animator is really cool”, again in the grand scheme of things, that event is only a blip in the timeline?–?they’re only going to think that for and then they gonna get back to their lives. At the pace of life in the modern age, we don’t live in permanence, and neither should your mindset. Experiment, let your freak flag fly and be yourself.

Put your boss hat on and take charge of your business.

Because you are a business can only exist if it’s profiting, and not to feel good at every given time. During your freelance journey, you will feel fear, anxiety, depression, and frustration, and this is the time you will judge yourself. You can make one decision based on pure emotions and it can affect your business or relationship just in a second.

Sometimes you need to put the boss part of you in charge of your business, someone that is decisive, aligned with the mission of the company and someone that doesn’t judge themselves on the opinions of others. Someone who isn’t afraid to say ’no’, someone who?believes in themselves.

What ‘lucky’ people do differently

Good?luck doesn’t come from finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or filling your office with horseshoes or four-leaf clovers. And it doesn’t happen by chance.

We all have more control over our own luck than we think we do.

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, proved this. In a 10-year series of experiments called “Luck School,” he found that lucky people think and act differently than unlucky people.

What lucky people do

Richard Wiseman?identified four basic principles that lucky people use to “generate their own good fortune”:

1. Creating and noticing chance opportunities
2. Making lucky decisions by listening to their intuition
3. Creating self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations
4. Adopting a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

His?Luck School?taught unlucky people how to act more as lucky people do.

Why Failure Helps Freelancers Succeed

Why do so many successful creatives, including Seth Godin, say that you can’t succeed unless you fail first?

“The person who fails the most will win,” says?Seth?Godin, an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker.

I think it’s fair to say that I have failed more than most people and I’m super proud of that. The person who fails the most wins and that’s because, in order to keep failing, you’ve got to be good enough to keep playing my favourite self-invented game, ‘who can fail faster’. If you never fail, then you’ll never grow.

Now, repeat after me

• ‘When a client reaches out they perceive me as an expert already. There are few that can do what I do.‘
• ‘My purpose is not to sell it’s to always add value.’
• ‘I value my time and I choose to work with people who value me.’
• ‘I have nothing to prove, I deserved the opportunities that I have earned.’
• ‘I’m honest, genuine, talented in my field, hardworking, and trustworthy.’
• ‘I am my biggest fan.’ (Okay my Mum’s a close 2nd).

Hope this helps ??

If you want to learn more about getting work, finding clients, pricing, negotiation, how to deal with clients, client communication, and the business side of freelancing then enrol for?Freelance Mastery?– the #1 freelance course which helps you to land high-paying clients, fast.

Access Freelance Mastery ???www.nkcourses.co.uk