You finally had enough of the early morning commute, idle office chitchat, and the overbearing boss on the red-eye from hell. Or maybe you suddenly found yourself without a job.

You decide to become a freelancer. Now what?

Despite the hype, you find a career as a freelancer doesn’t seem as simple as it looks from the outside. 

The endless blogs about freelancing for newbies, constant stream of content mills and job boards, and the shady gurus promising to get you your first Lamborghini within a year.

Looks like a real jungle out there!

Where to start, what to do, and how to keep from drowning has got to be the most pressing questions new freelancers find themselves trying to find answers to when sleep is nowhere in sight.

So, whether you are starting out with a dollar and a dream or you’ve got a rainy-day fund to dip into when the going gets tough…

Here are 5 mindset shifts to set you on the path to successful freelancing.

Time Or Money. You Always Have One

Most people starting out as freelancers fall somewhere within the spectrum of trying to build a freelance career as an employee and  having no job to fall back on.

Regardless of where you find yourself, you always have time or money. Time to learn or money to spend. And if you’re really really lucky –

you have both.

Here is the kicker.

If you have way more time than money, you have to work harder. But with 90% of all the resources you need to succeed freely available online – you are more than halfway there. 

Between the 4-hour YouTube videos that leave you with more questions than you started with, free e-books, podcasts, courses and webinars, you will find the answers.

You don’t have to buy a course but be prepared for long days or nights, trying to connect most of the dots. 

Not forgetting the missing freebie lead magnets and naff content upgrades! What you do gain are sack loads of self-confidence, shiny new skills and perseverance.

Really bankable currency in the freelancing world.

On the other hand, if you have more money than time, you can buy the best copywriting or software development course online (watch out for brilliant copywriting on the landing pages!). 

If the course is as good as it says on the tin, you shave months off trying to connect the dots DIY-style.

And with perks such as mentorship and free templates built into paid courses, you will be ready to take on clients in less time.

One thing to remember though. Throwing money and the responsibility for your success at the course owner won’t give you a free pass. 

You still have to put in the work. Sorry!

Finding A Niche Gives You Wings

“Niches bring riches” – the saying goes. 

Except you are committed to being a Jack of all trades and ending up a master of none, you have to pick a niche.

As a new freelancer, choosing a niche is one of the scariest things to get your mind to accept. You’re trying to make money, not leave it on the table so choosing a niche seems like narrowing your options.

Not true though.

For one, it is easier to gain traction when you have a niche. You are able to focus your time, money and resources on that niche to become really good at what you offer. 

Let’s say you chose Front-end development as a niche. You spend the next few months learning  HTML, CSS and Javascript, including practical exercises and projects to bring you up to speed.

In a short while, you’ll be confident enough to offer this service. 

Clients will also take you more seriously when you specialise and they’ll be willing to pay more for your services.

Popular freelancing niches include writing, software development, digital marketing and graphic design. 

Find yourself a niche or create one if you must.

Build A Skillset And The Money Will Follow

Still stacking is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself in your freelancing niche. 

Skill stacking is the process of learning related skills that can be combined as a service.

For example, if your niche is social media marketing – Facebook Ads, Google Ads and Google Analytics are related skills that can be rolled into one service offer.

Most clients that need social media marketing services also need to run ads to drive traffic (customers) to their social media pages and websites. 

Even though, these are standalone skills, combining them as a service makes you more valuable to clients.

 You can charge more for your services, and get your calendar booked months in advance by clients looking to save money and time working with just one freelancer instead of 3 or 4.

A Saturated Market Is A Good One

Sometimes you may feel like you are late to the freelancing table and all the best seats are taken. 

Although the freelancing landscape is getting busier and there seem to be more freelancers than jobs, you couldn’t be further from the truth.  

A ‘seemingly’ saturated market or a competitive niche is always a blessing in disguise. In simple terms, it means there is a high demand for that service. 

And with new businesses springing up daily, there are certainly enough clients to keep the freelancer economy booming.

Opportunities abound everywhere. You just have to position your service well, know where to look for clients and beware of the “scarcity mindset”. 

With new businesses springing up daily, there are more than enough jobs to go round.

So, if you focus on become truly good at what you offer, you will never run out of work.

Harness The Cores Strengths Of Your Personality

Whether you believe in personality tests or not – having an understanding of what you are good at and lacking in gives you a head start on your freelancing journey. 

A personality test also gives you a cheat sheet into common strengths and weaknesses for your personality type and how to make the most of them.

As a new freelancer, you get a LOT of rejections. 

Being able to reframe these rejections as learning opportunities instead of personal failures keeps your momentum on what can sometimes be an isolating career journey.

Self-discipline, putting yourself in situations that stretch your growth muscles, and a commitment to learning are some of the baseline skills you need to succeed as a new freelancer. So, carry out an audit of your personality.

If you’re super organised, good at multitasking but you find it hard to communicate well with people, you know what to work on.

Building self-awareness also gives you clarity on your values and how they influence the choices you make. 

Self-awareness also helps you reduce self-limiting beliefs and build better relationships with clients and other professionals in your freelancing career.

A freelancing career gives you the flexibility to live life on your terms and there is no cap on how much you can earn.

Freelancing is also a common route to entrepreneurship with many freelancers making enough money to move into different entrepreneurial ventures over time.

Having the right mindset means you are better prepared for the uncertainties that come with a freelancing career. And you are able to make them work in your favour. 

Which mindset shifts can you add to these ones?