As freelancers we can get stuck in a rut.
We find a way to make a reasonable income, and then we stick with it.
But the longer we stick with it, the deeper the rut becomes, and the harder it is to break out into new and better directions.
In fact, we soon lose sight of the fact that there are other possibilities beyond the rim of the rut.
After a while we begin to lose heart. Yes, we are making a living. Yes, we have a routine that seems to work OK. But… wasn’t there a time when we thought we were capable of much more?
It’s at this point that we need the intervention of a coach.
Here are three ways in which working with an experienced coach can make a big difference to your future.
1. An outside perspective helps you better understand your strengths.
In my coaching practice I constantly come across freelancers who hugely underestimate their gifts and talents.
I work with writers who think they are “OK” at their craft, when in fact they have an incredible talent.
Why don’t they recognize their own abilities? In part, it can be a self-esteem thing. But also, it’s often the case that nobody has ever told them how good they are. They have just never heard it from anyone else’s lips. And when I tell them how good they really are, they have trouble believing me. For a while, anyway.
Having your talents validated by someone you respect can make a huge difference to your self-confidence and your future.
2. Freelancers need help making any significant changes.
Making big changes on your own is hard. It’s difficult to get out of that rut. If you don’t believe me, think of the other changes you have tried to make on your own.
Think of when you last decided to lose weight, take more exercise or redecorate your home. And so on. We have the best of intensions, but rarely follow through to completion.
The same thing happens in the life of almost every freelancer. You have some great ideas about how you can grow or improve your business. You might make a start. But you rarely stick the course.
And that’s where having a coach comes in. A coach can help you choose the best way forward, keep you accountable and make sure you follow through to completion.
3. You need someone else to help you get past the fear of trying to achieve your full potential.
Fear holds us back. All the time. In every part of our lives.
We fear failure. We often anticipate and expect failure. “I knew I shouldn’t have tried that. I knew it wouldn’t work. Who am I to think I could do that?”
As a freelancer you work alone. You are isolated. It is incredibly hard to overcome the fear of failure when you are working on your own.
Again, the support and encouragement of a good coach can help you get past your fears and make advances you would have never thought possible.
A quick slideshow…
While thinking about this post, I scribbled down a few more reasons why you might benefit from some coaching. I put them together in the form of a slideshow.
In the headline to this post I imply that coaching can help you double your freelance income. Is that true? Or is that just my attempt at writing a catchy headline?
It’s true.
I know that, because it happened to me.
A few years ago I worked with a coach and, after the second phone call, I doubled all my freelance fees. Overnight. And no, I didn’t meet any resistance from my clients, new or old.
What was that about? Well, my coach used his outside perspective to notice something that had escaped my own attention. What he saw was that my perceived value in the marketplace had grown a great deal faster than my fees.
Clients were prepared to may be twice what I was charging, but I couldn’t see it.
But my coach saw it immediately.
As you can imagine, I was more than happy with the outcome of our engagement.
Whatever the hurdles or limits you see in front of your own progress, working with a coach can help you achieve incredible breakthroughs.
You can hire me as your coach. Or someone else. Either way, work with someone, and achieve your full potential.
About the author: Nick Usborne is an online writer, copywriter, author and coach. Read more…
Nice post Nick. I read a similar post recently, which was about having mentors. I think this is a great idea and what appeals most to me is ‘doubling income’ 😀