Getting Rid of the Newbie Mindset as a Freelancer

Being a freelance newbie is absolutely terrifying (can confirm).

I had no experience with freelancing before I jumped in headfirst.

I didn’t even know any other freelancers or what I could expect from my new position. I was scared, shy, and really, really not confident in my abilities.

And guess what?

This showed in everything I did.

I was scared to reach out to potential clients.

I struggled to big up my abilities because I didn’t have any experience and there were (surely!) tons of better people out there who could do the job.

When I did miraculously land a client, I was cringingly timid when talking to them. I bowed down to their every whim, and I basically ran myself into the ground trying to please them.

They were the boss, right?

Except, no.

This was the mindset that I had to work on, but it’s all too common amongst new freelancers — particularly those that go straight from employment into freelancing. We’re so wrapped up in “experience” and being a good employee that we forget that we’re running a business.

We forget that we’re the boss, regardless of whether we’ve been freelancing for 10 years or 10…