I have been freelancing for the past 7 years and I cannot help but look back at how far I’ve come since then.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
I started in 2011 when my son turned 1. It was not really about separation anxiety. The need to stay at home was brought about by our frustration in finding a trustworthy person to care for our child. And the fact that my husband kept on encouraging me to stay at home with our son.
The moment I gave birth, my husband started to look into options for work-from-home jobs. He kept on telling me about a friend who worked from home. I guess he really wanted one of us to be completely hands-on with raising our child – but I was hesitant because I wanted to keep on earning. I knew that financially, we need two incomes in our household.
KEEPING AN OPEN MIND
But I was keeping an open mind. So when he encouraged me to try out online freelancing, that was what I did.
When the opportunity arose for me to work from home, I decided to grab it. I knew nothing about online work but I was determined. I was driven by the thought of being able to stay at home with my son while earning my own money.
Truthfully, it was not easy. Financially, my husband and I had to make do with a smaller income. During the first few months of my freelancing career, my income went down by 60%. We had to make a lot of lifestyle changes and spending reductions. But we knew what our end goal was and we were determined to make it through until we succeeded.
And we did.
My freelancing career slowly took off. Now, I can proudly say that I have reached the Top Rated status as an online freelancer. Now, I have enough work history to allow me to choose the projects that I will work on.
TWO THINGS THAT HELPED MY FREELANCING CAREER
It was not a smooth journey but there were two things that really helped me along the way.
The first was our end goal
I realized what my husband was saying all along. Nothing compares to having one of us stay at home with our son. By believing that I had to make it work, I found the motivation to push through even when things were looking down. Even when I faced one rejection after another, I looked at my son and I knew I had to make it work somehow. Very Well Mind blog mentioned that it is challenging to work from home especially when you are just starting out.
The second was finding what I wanted to do in freelancing
I always loved writing but I never thought of making a career out of it. When I started freelancing as an online writer, I was surprised by how it made me feel really fulfilled. I knew that I could do this day in and day out. And since I was a freelancer, I could do it at my own pace. Since it was something that I loved to do, it was not hard to make an effort to learn and explore things on my own. And with every new learning comes a greater chance of achieving a successful freelancing career.
I am sure every freelancing journey is different but I just wanted to share with you what I had to go through. It was hard but it was all worth it – and it still is.