How do you define success as a freelancer? When would you say that you’ve achieved the work life you always wanted? Is your definition of success becoming a millionaire? I mean, not that I would say no to earning millions, but that’s not usually the motivation which drives us to quit our job and start freelancing.

In fact, having a 9-to-5 job is much easier than being a freelancer. At least at the beginning, when you don’t know whether you’re going to have enough customers this month to make ends meet. But that’s not this post’s topic, so if you’d like to find out more, check out this post about the advantages and disavantages of freelancing.

To get back to our question, do you really know why you want to start freelancing? What does success mean to you? When would you say that you’ve achieved your goal? To help you answer this question, here are some of the goals most employees set themselves to quit their job and start freelancing.

Popular Reasons to Become a Freelancer

• Earn more money working less. You know it’s impossible for you to get a big salary raise, and your extra time isn’t paid, so you’d like to make more money on your own. Where you can choose how much and when you work.
• Work less time and earn the same. Working from home means you won’t have to attend any meetings, and you won’t waste any time commuting or chatting with your colleagues. It’s just a matter of productivity.
• Work only 4 days a week, and have Fridays free, for instance. You’d love to have more time for yourself and get one day free, or work part-time, just 4 hours a day, from Mondays to Fridays. How you structure your week is up to you. There will be times when you’ll be doing extra hours, especially at the beginning, but that’s OK if you know you get to take a rest the next day, right?
• Travel the world. You’d love to work less and yet earn more money, and that’s very doable if you live in countries with a low cost of living. Either you become a digital nomad, which means that you’ll be working while traveling from country to country, or you move to Asia, for instance, where freelancing has become a very popular way of living.
• Work from home. Your life has become this crazy routine, where you try to manage your days as good as you can. Between commuting for work, picking up kids from school and doing the house chores, you’ve forgotten what work-life balance even means. So working from home could give you the logistics peace you need to gain back control of your life. Keep reading how to enjoy work and family without feeling guilty.
• No boss. You don’t want to have someone telling you what to do. You have better ideas yourself, and you’d love to plan and implement them. Freelancing isn’t something “practical” for you; it’s just a way of living. Welcome to the club!
• Work any time and any place. Maybe you don’t want to work from another country or start your own business, but you’ve got a disability or a medical condition which doesn’t allow you to work at fixed times. If that’s the case, offering digital products would be the best way for you to maximize the periods of time you’re feeling fit, and rest when you need it.
• Take care of a sick person in your family. Trying to combine work schedules with family care isn’t easy at all. Whether it’s your child, who just came back from school with flu symptoms or someone with a severe illness you want to take care of. Working remotely or freelancing is the way to go if you can’t afford or don’t want to stop working, at least in my opinion.

How Can You Know Which Goals You Should Set Succeed Freelancing?

• When it comes to setting goals, don’t listen to anyone but yourself. Don’t follow other people’s rules ’cause they won’t probably help you achieve your goals.

• The best work habits are the ones which suit you. If working 80-100 hours a week like Elon Musk doesn’t fulfill you, don’t do it! You don’t feel like waking up at 5 o’clock to meditate or practice yoga ’cause you went to bed a couple of hours before? Then don’t do it! If you’re a night owl and your most productive time is when everyone’s asleep, by all means! You’re the boss now, so you get to make the rules!

• Set the goals you really want to achieve. If your goal is to work in your PJs and throw those high heels out of the window, do it – but first, check out that there’s no neighbour under that window 😛

• How much money are you happy with? Enough to have a house? Just enough to rent a flat and an atelier? Then, go ahead! What? You want to make tons of money and pilot your own jet? Then go for it, girl!

So what’s success for you when money doesn’t play any role? Is time what you’re craving for? Is being able to take care of your loved ones the definition of success? When do you know that you’ve made it? For me, the answer is clear – When I choose when, where and how. Even if it isn’t the easiest option.

Leave a comment below and tell me what success means for you 🙂

Alicia

Are you born to freelance?