When you’re deciding to take the plunge on Upwork and succumb to the solo-preneur act, I think it’s important that you realize things are going to dramatically change. A lot of the things you thought you knew just aren’t that way. And you quickly realize that there was a ton of fear holding you back from learning new things and new ideas.
At least it was for me.
I came from the background of needing to do the usual things in life like go to high school, go to college, get a job, get married, get pregnant, have a kid, retire, die.
How fucking miserable does that actually sound?
But for some reason, that’s the normal story we want to set up for ourselves so we can prove to our Facebook feed friends that we’re normal.
But maybe normal isn’t always best.
It honestly wasn’t until I let go of the desire to find a normal job that I really embraced this.
Let’s go back to when I first started working with Upwork.
I was basically just let go from a company in California after having just moved from the East Coast and I was dating a girl in Brussels, who I needed to go see.
Out of panic and fear, I put my profile on Upwork, hoping to make a few scraps to buy a plane ticket to go see my girl. I had literally no intention on this going that far. I just figured I’d get some consulting gigs and help a few people out. After all, I spent a lot of time on the client side of Upwork, contracting out different web work for my personal businesses and the company I was let go from.
This was embarrassing at first, to be honest. I’m not sure why, but it was. Maybe because I felt like I needed that cloak of employment to feel safe. Even though I knew in my heart that the false sense of security of a job is and always will be a joke. My father’s entire generation was on the receiving end of this fallacy. I remember the feeling I had during his forced retirement party. That could never be me.
After letting go of my ego and posting my profile on the platform, I knew within my first few applications that I made the right decision.
It was the first time I felt truly valued in a very long time.
That feeling became addictive and I quickly realized that I had it all wrong.
The security shouldn’t come from other people it should come from yourself.
Once you know you are valued, you will always feel valuable.
From there, it honestly feels like you can take more and more on and focus on learning instead of how you’re burned.
It’s amazing to earn from the new things you learn. Keep earning and keep learning!
