7 Lessons From 7 Months of Self Employment

This can help you with money, mental health, and more.

I can’t believe it’s been seven months already, because it feels like yesterday that I was planning a lifestyle in my head that everybody around me told me doesn’t exist.

Only if life was that easy, they’d say.

But I didn’t ask for easy, I just asked for meaningful.

Doing something that comes easily to me, but has its own set of challenges. Oh, and at least it's fun as opposed to data crunching and mundane stuff.

Difficult, purposeful, and gratifying — that’s how I feel today.

Here are my seven quick lessons from seven months of self-employment.

1. Only Diversification Can Save You

My end goal was to become a freelance writer until I realised that depending entirely on clients (who leave as per their wish, which screws up your finances and mental health) is taxing.

Clients’ business requirements immediately change and the next thing you know — you’re rushing to find somebody so there’s enough money coming in next month.

Only diversification can save you and help you grow wealth. In fact, creating products to solve options is my favourite thing to do now. I recently started creating lots of free and paid products that are doing well.

2. Money Eventually Comes

If you focus on creating value and keep learning, money will come to you. If you help a business grow their business, they will invest in you

I’ve never done a $25 article. A $50 one, yes, when I just started. But I’ve always had my own $$$ rate that has never been compromised.

As my friend Carter Kilmann says, keeping your rate and sticking with it already helps you weed out many clients and focus on the ones who are willing to invest.

If you focus on creating value and keep learning, money will come to you. If you help a business grow their business, they will invest in you.

3. The Real Meat Is This

I wouldn’t enjoy doing what I do half as much if it wasn’t for people.

Build relationships, and you’ll see where that magic takes you.

I’ve received mentorship from clients who are pioneers in their field, made friends with fellow writers, sought help from Twitter friends and cried to some of them too when shit hit the fan.

Build meaningful relationships and you’ll see the beauty of being in a community.

4. Stand Up for Yourself

You will have clients who want to pay you less.

You will have people tell you they don’t enjoy what you write.

You’ll have people send you negative stuff just because they can.

There's nobody else but you. It won’t be easy, but stand up for your values and your choices.

5. It’s Easy To Lose Sanity

People talk about passive income and creating things, but nobody highlights that you earn only if people buy from you — which is extremely difficult.

I’ve lost sanity by

• doing too many things at once
• impulse-launching one of my products
• overthinking about what if *insert work* doesn’t go well
• if people like what I write, and
• doubting myself

The upside and downside of working online is that the world can be a platter of opportunities. It gets so… exhausting.

6. More Money -> More Responsibility -> Anxiety

A very easy recipe to screw your mental health.

My first course got sold out! That’s 25 people who paid me to help them.

Since there was a 5-day return policy, I was super anxious the first five days which felt like forever.

It’s during our weekly calls I realised people loved it and were gaining value and having fun.

With more money comes much more responsibility, especially when you try new things. A very easy recipe to screw your mental health.

Stay strong and don’t stop believing in your work.

7. Use My Secret To Get Ahead in Your Journey

I wouldn’t have released any products, a course, or even attained high-paying clients if I didn’t do everything as an experiment. When you look at it that way, you feel less attached to the outcome.

Do everything as an experiment. Either it’ll work out, or it won’t. No biggie.

If it doesn’t, there will always be something better. My biggest client, who I had a $15,000 deal with, left me randomly the moment I quit my job. He was my safety net, for fuck’s sake.

But after him, better things happened and I’m so glad that opportunity ended.

Keep doing new things and you never know what path it unfolds.

Summary

I look back at a year ago and think of how I’m living is exactly how I wanted to. It’s difficult on some days and some are really stressful, but I remind myself of this fact and feel better.

I don’t know what's there for me in the future but the present is amazing and I know that for now, I’m making the most out of life.

I’m actually living.

Here are seven things I realised in seven months of self-employment:

1. Only diversification can save you: work to establish multiple income streams slowly but surely.
2. Money eventually comes: put out value, and thou shall get paid.
3. The real meat is this: build relationships and expect nothing in return.
4. Stand up for yourself: because nobody else can.
5. It’s very easy to lose sanity: actively work on your mental health.
6. More money -> More responsibility: if people are paying you, they believe in you — please believe in yourself too.
7. Use my secret: conduct experiments because you’ll only unfold new paths in life when you try new things.

I hope you find peace and happiness in everything you do!

Click here to grab your free Side Hustler Checklist. Enjoy reading on Medium? Buy a membership for full access.

If you enjoyed reading this, you might relish: