The secret most will not confess to about the fear involved in freelancing

Fear and freelancing

I recently spoke on a panel at an event for women in the communication field, and I sat in on the session before mine since I personally knew some of the panelists. One of the final questions was about their insecurities and fear. The first panelist was a well known photographer who said she isn’t wired to experience fear. The next was a creative director for a famous jewelry designer, and she expressed that she does not self doubt, she journals through her feelings. The third was a local reporter I’ve been friends with for years who laughed and said he doubts everything he does at every second, in fact, he had doubts about being on this very panel (in jest).

When I was on stage and we got the same question, I actually stated that I was shocked at the previous panels’ answers (aside from the journalist’s), and laughed as I expressed that I am in a constant state of fear (did I phrase that email well enough? did that story flow properly? is that upcoming event in the right venue? and so on). The other panelists laughed and all instantly agreed.

Why had the last panel expressed fearlessness while the panel I was on was open about their fears? Fear. When one person says they’re fearless, you fear looking weak by being honest, so you instinctively preserve your standing in the community and share that you’re fearless as well.

And that brings us to freelancing and entrepreneurialism. A few years ago, we published a piece outlining the 10 advantages and disadvantages of becoming a freelancer, and the advice stands for most entrepreneurs as well. We noted that the advantages include flexible work hours, control over jobs and clients, being able to work wherever you want, you’re the boss, and you keep the profits. On the downside, work is not necessarily steady, there’s a lot of legwork, professional time bleeds into personal time, there may not be benefits, and you don’t always get paid.

It’s all sound advice, but there’s a dark secret in the pit of many freelancers’ stomachs, and that is a fear not quite outlined in the list above, but touched on at the aforementioned conference. Before quitting your day job, I’ll tell you that secret, because no one else is going to.

Every day as a freelancer is fueled by that pit of fear in your stomach

It isn’t always consuming, and you don’t always experience it in the form of nail biting or anxiety, but it’s always there and never goes away. As a freelancer, you wear many hats, and as an entrepreneur, you often do as well. Mentioning the advantages and disadvantages is accurate and helpful, but mentioning in passing that you’re the boss and in control doesn’t quite relay the fact that the eternal pipeline cycle is terrifying. You market to get clients, then get busy with the clients and need more hours in the day to keep marketing to get your next clients, but your project ends, and you ran out of time for sales to land that next client. You wear all of the hats.

Tommy Landry, Founder at ReturnOnNow said that becoming a freelancer is “all based on your ability to take on new work, build relationships, and outsource intelligently for the tactical stuff. While the risk of financial downside is definitely there, it’s worth it to avoid capping your income with a “salary plus bonus” structure, where an employer gets to choose if you make more money or not.”

So the dirty secret no one will tell you is that freelancers and most entrepreneurs feel a pit of fear in their stomachs every day about the future, about what they’re doing in that moment, and about their past moves. So what do the most successful do with that fear? They acknowledge it, they embrace it, they become disciplined by it, and they are fueled by it rather than consumed by it.

If you’re not questioning any of your moves, you’re either stagnant and not making any moves, you’re crippled by the fear, or you’re oblivious to the fact that you’re in charge, and every move you make impacts your company’s future, down to the last email you sent.