Get A Job - What I Wish I Knew #1

It’s ok to get a job.

When I first started freelancing, I made a heap of mistakes. There’s a laundry list of things I wish I could go back and tell myself, because they would have helped me make a lot more money and saved me a lot of stress. 

I wish I knew it was ok to get a job. At the outset of my freelance career, I found too much pride in the fact that I was a freelancer. Friends of mine who worked normal jobs would say things like, “you’re living the dream,” so I felt I couldn’t let them down by getting a job. Even when finances got tough, or work dried up, I felt ashamed to get a normal job because I found my identity in the fact that I was “self-made.”

If I could go back, I would tell myself it’s ok to get a job. There’s nothing wrong with working part time, or full time, while you build your freelance client base. What I realized is that even though people may say you’re “living the dream,” your real friends care more about you avoiding stress and living a healthy life. 

So, my advice to anyone starting out is to get a job if you need it. Don’t hinge your identity on your work situation, because that’s a recipe for major stress. 

Good luck out there!

PS I’ve decided to put my Zero To One series on hold until I have more time around Thanksgiving to really dig in and write these well. I want them to be references for you to look back on when you do take the first step from zero to one.