Cultivating Boldness: How to Be a Bold Freelancer

Credit: photo by shodensan on Flickr

A few months ago, as I was engaged in some much-needed tidying of my desk, I discovered beneath a stack of index cards and tangle of wires a magnetized card with the following quote:

?You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face?Do the thing you think you cannot do.?
? Eleanor Roosevelt

I bought this card many years ago when I was going through a difficult period that had nothing to do with freelancing or writing. Back then, I would wake in the morning and reach for this card, which was waiting for me on my nightstand. For a long time, this quote helped me to get out of bed every day and fight the good fight.

Happily, my life has since moved on to a much smoother phase. Nonetheless, after finding the card on my desk, I propped it next to my computer. As a freelancer, it?s good to have a daily reminder to be bold.

Boldness is vital to a successful freelance career. This path we?ve chosen ? the very initiation of which took guts? feeds on determination, confidence, and the occasional death-defying leap of faith. But it?s not just the brassy acts that fuel our career. Freelancing thrives on those small daily acts of daring that aren?t a big deal to anyone except for you. You know what I mean. Picking up the phone and making the call that you dread. Opening the file of a project that seems overwhelming and scary. Taking a good honest look something you?ve labored on for hours (or days) and saying, ?You know what? This is crap!? and starting the job from scratch. Deciding to raise your fees.

These acts of bravery, big or small, are the things that propel our careers forward. And that?s why we need to take stock of the areas in which our courage is lagging, every single day. Here are my ?BOLD? tips on how you can make sure you?re giving your work its daily dose of boldness.

Brainstorm

Spend an hour writing down all those aspects of your work that you fear, dread, consider yourself weak, or on which you find yourself procrastinating. Dig as deeply as you can. It may help to take a look at your current projects and monthly and annual goals (you do have those written down, don?t you?) to assess the tasks you need to accomplish to finish the projects or meet those goals. Ask yourself which of these tasks require boldness on your part. When you?ve finished brainstorming, make a master list of every individual task that you believe embodies an act of boldness. Put this list on a prominent place in your workspace. You can call it your ?Be Bold Goals.?

Obligate Yourself

Commit to doing one bold act a day. When you begin your work day, look at your ?Be Bold Goals,? and chose at least one item to accomplish that day. If necessary, promise yourself a little reward as incentive for executing the task (chocolate is always good). Or if you prefer, self-impose a sanction (no chocolate for a week). But chocolate aside, I find that one of the most effective ways of motivating myself is visualizing how I?ll feel once the task is finished. Completing something courageous is as good as any chocolate high. Usually.

Lessen Your Fear

Because bold acts can loom so monstrously large, sometimes you may need to put things into perspective before plunging into boldness. Whatever you?re doing, though important for your business, probably will not have as sweeping an impact on your life it may feel. To shrink your apprehension to a reasonable size, think to yourself: will this act kill you? No. Will it hurt someone you love? No. Will it destroy your entire business, and force you to live on the streets? Probably not. Does it require taking the One True Ring to Mordor and casting it into the fires of Mount Doom? Unlikely.

Sure, deciding to put yourself out there, risking rejection, ridicule, or maybe even money, can be stomach-sinking feeling. But when it comes down to it, all you?re just doing with this act is either pushing your business forward, or gaining valuable experience and knowledge. That?s all. This is true whether your act succeeds or tank.

Do it

Once you?ve committed to a daily act of boldness, pull a Nike and just do it. This is the hardest part. If you employ all the tricks mentioned above and find yourself still hesitating at the brink, try this: pretend you?re someone else. Think about a person you admire, whom you consider to be successful or talented, and whom you believe could more than capable of handling to task you?re about to execute. And then be that person. With enough time and practice, maybe someday you will be.

What techniques do you use to bring boldness to your freelance business?

Credit: photo by shodensan on Flickr