Freelancing Is Acting
Freelancing is acting.
I have friends who are a little off-put by my “work voice.” Old friends who knew me from a different time hear me speak the language of my industry and get confused. What they don’t realize is that freelancing is acting.
I have a skill that can help someone out, and I can make money doing it. But my clients would never believe that unless I was acting as if I could. They wouldn’t have taken the meeting with me if I wasn’t speaking their language. They wouldn’t hire me if I didn’t seem like one of them.
You may see your freelance friends I think to yourself, Wow, they’ve changed. And that’s true. They have changed. But it’s not a bad thing. Your freelance friends are probably acting. They’re acting to make a connection. They’re acting to get a foot in the door. They’re acting to make their dreams come true.
As Seth Godin says, it’s acting as if. Acting as if you have the answers. Acting as if you can help someone solve their problem. Acting as if there’s a better way to do things. Because if you act as if for long enough, you’ll probably find that there is. There is a better way forward. There are better solutions. There are answers.
And before you cast a stone, what is being a professional, anyway? If you work nine-to-five for a corporation, your authentic self isn’t wearing that uniform. Your authentic self isn’t signing emails with “best regards.” Your authentic self isn’t showing up 15 minutes early to make sure that you’re never late. That’s just called being a professional. In a way, we are all acting. We are acting as if there’s a better way to do things, because there is!
Success in business and in life depends on acting. Acting as if.
