5 Proven Ways To Overcome Disappointment As a Freelancer
It is important to know how to deal with disappointment as a freelancer especially with the barrage of challenges associated with the freelancing sphere.
Life comes at us in different ways. For a freelancer, you are usually a disappointment away from getting sad. From a proposal not converting, to you not meeting the deadline due to some reasons or getting your contract ripped off totally, it’s always one battle to another.
There is also the lean period where there are no jobs at all to do and you start thinking about — whether you will ever make the leap to a thousand dollars freelancer.
If you are going through all these or you have done that before, this article is for you.
In this piece, you will learn the 5 proven ways to overcome disappointment as a freelancer and get back on track.
Ways to Overcome Disappointment as a Freelancer
- Make space for other things.
For those of us in freelancing, work is usually the main thing. When we are engrossed with such a line of work, we find it difficult to pay attention to other parts of our lives. Sometimes, the family ties suffer because there’s no time to attend meetings, hangouts or even say hi over the phone.
Since I started freelancing actively, the rate at which I have lost friends is alarming. The major thing is always how to get the next job, meet deadlines or scale the business high up.
However, whenever there’s a disappointment, one of the best ways to overcome this is to take one’s mind off work completely. This is the time for you to reach out to loved ones, take a walk, cook your best food and do other things — apart from being on your electronics.
2. Look toward your community for support
This is the period where you will appreciate being a part of a productive freelancing community. Usually, there are freelancers who have gone through your kind of disappointment in their freelance career who can guide you.
The place of a good freelance community cannot be overemphasized especially one where the concerns, growth and happiness of members are paramount.
3. Ask for feedbacks
Feedbacks will help you to identify the root cause of the problem and how to solve it. Seeking feedback from clients will help you grow and reduce your sadness, anger or grievances when you know where you are at fault and can improve.
I lost a huge contract yesterday which shook me to my bone. I have been working with this client for a while before we had our issue and it led to the termination of the contract. The client told me he was not satisfied with the quality of the job because he expected me to add some things which I couldn’t get.
He said, “Ibrahim, you write well but I can’t work with someone who doesn’t communicate well with me. There is some information in the article that was wrong and if you had asked, I would have provided you with links to the right one”.
The reason seems somehow to me but it pacified me at least. Now, I know I delivered a good job, it was the processes he had issues with. We can still work together in the future. I will also use the feedback to improve myself and try not to repeat such again.
4. Look for positives in your work
The period you are using to nurse your disappointment is a good time for you to look for positives in what you do. What are the things you have done well? What are the areas you need to improve on? Are you growing? Beyond work, are you living a purposeful life? Find answers to all these questions and build positivity around them.
After losing the contract, I found solace in the fact that the client recognized my potential. Also, I have grown from a timid freelancer last year to one who now recognizes — that we can’t always win — and there will be sometimes things will go south. It doesn’t mean we are not trying enough, it is a reminder that we are humans.
Another positive I got is that — I didn’t allow that setback to stop me from proceeding with a FREE freelancing class I had organized for beginners who want to explore the world of remote working and earning from home. Even though I was down, the happiness and joy I was able to bring to these people gave me strength that better days are ahead.
5. Stay away from shining stones only
Social media is the ideal definition of a shining stone. For someone nursing the heartbreak and disappointment of freelancing, it can become overwhelming when you immerse yourself in news or stories pertaining to how people have ONLY been winning. This is especially true for social media platforms like LinkedIn where there are no disappointment, sadness, or bad story concerning career, everyone has had it well so far in their life. This can become depressing for you if you let it get into you. The truth is that — you are not alone — there are no winning stories without the bad ones. Just that folks over there seldom push it out.
Take-Home
As a freelancer, things will always not be good. Anytime there’s a disappointment or heartbreak, there are some ways to handle it. You should try to distract yourself by engaging in other things. Talk to your community members and always look for positives. Stay away from social media for a while and build on the positives to get yourself back on track.
Freelancing like every other business is not perfect, there will be good moments and there will also be bad moments. You should always keep your head up and keep at it.
I wish you the best.
