How to Succeed as a Freelancer in 2019? Execution & Consistency

Every time when I meet someone who is thinking about or getting started with freelancing, I get to hear this one question, which is very prominent. How to succeed as a freelancer? Do you have this question in mind too? If yes, this post is precisely for you. Keep reading.

I am going to divide this entire post into smaller segments where you will learn the following:

• What is success?
• What is success in freelancing?
• What are the two main aspects of being successful as a freelancer?
• Consistency
• Execution
• How can you execute plans consistently?

Let’s get started and look into each of these in an order which will help you in understanding the concept better and assist you in bringing clarity of thoughts. At least, you will be able to plan a path for yourself because you would know how to succeed as a freelancer, by the end of this article.

What is success?

Success is generally a state of mind, I would say, which tells you whether you are satisfied with your goals and achievements. When someone sets some goal for himself, he consistently strives to achieve that goal. And thus, he perceives success as he reaches that goal and achieves it.

Broadly, when we achieve our goals, we call ourselves successful. Goals are integrated with success.

Now, in many cases, these goals are not set by the individual himself. These are set by others – parents, teachers, peers, relatives, spouse, kids, offices and authorities and even movies and television shows are famous for setting up goals. Most of us want to be like someone else – an influencer, maybe and tries to achieve what that person has achieved in life. They want to copy and run behind some goal which is not particularly their own – it is just perceived like that – and more often than not, it is a goal of someone else who has an influence in that person's life.

I have talked a lot about goal setting in my POWER Freelancing Course. I am sure that all my students who have taken up that course know already that a goal needs to be set by yourself. You are the only one who can set your own goals, target them and strive to achieve them too.

When you achieve a goal set by you for yourself, you get the feeling of success. When you run behind someone else’s goal, you tend to remain unsatisfied even after achieving that because by the time you have achieved that initial goal, that someone who set it up for you, would have changed it to another level or something completely different. Achieving someone else’s goal is NOT SUCCESS!

What is success in freelancing?

Success in freelancing is no different from success in any other field. However, more often than not, the goals in freelancing are set by the freelancer himself. That is a huge difference though, and I love it!

Different freelancers set different kinds of goals. While some strive for a target revenue that they can earn from active sources of income over a period of time, some freelancers set a specific level of consistent passive income revenue as their goal.

When they achieve these goals, they feel successful. And the best thing about freelancers is that they can then raise the bar and level up their goal and set a higher aim and strive towards achieving it – everything controlled and dictated by the self.

Success in freelancing is to achieve the freelancing goals you have set for yourself as a freelancer. This is how to succeed as a freelancer.

What are the two main aspects of being successful as a freelancer?

We all know that just setting up the goals did not make anyone successful, did that? Success only comes to those who consistently work towards achieving the goals that they have set for themselves.

Planning a goal is one thing and putting in the right efforts in executing the plan is another. That who can do both will succeed for sure. It will be just a matter of time before he knocks off the peaks of success.

Once after you have set your goals, you will have a journey towards achieving it. The two main aspects of that journey are consistency and execution. Only when you put in the right efforts consistently so as to execute your plan (or a series of plans) that can help you to reach your goals, you will be able to achieve them.

Consistent execution of plans is how to succeed as a freelancer.

There are a lot of other virtues which one may argue to have a lot of impact on being successful. I do not say no to any of those, but if you look at the big picture, you will see that every other virtue converges or boils down to these two. If you are not executing your plans consistently, you will not succeed.

Consistency

What is consistency and how to be consistent?

If you want to be a YouTube sensation, you need to upload quality videos frequently as well as after a fixed and predefined interval of time. If you miss, you may lose a few subscribers because they would be expecting a video from you at a fixed time. Not getting that a few times may offend them.

Publishing a video on your YouTube channel regularly at a fixed time and day is very important. It lets you develop a habit in your subscribers to watch your videos. Some will even schedule their work to make time for you when you publish regularly at a specific time. This is called consistency. Constantly doing what you do is consistency.

Consistency can be in action as well as in thoughts. I always tell everyone that you need to think about what you want to become. Consistent thinking about your future self, accelerates your journey towards achieving what you intend to.

When you have planned your way towards your goal, be consistent. Do something about it every single day. Get closer to your goal inch by inch. Putting in some effort in reaching your goals every day is the best example of being consistent.

I just gave an example of a YouTuber. Consistency is a true necessity for anyone working in any field. If you are a blogger and that is how you want to be recognized as, you must keep writing and publishing your articles consistently. You choose how frequently you want to post – daily, weekly, monthly – and do that consistently; do that regularly. That is the key!

Execution

When you are consistent, more often than not, execution will take care of itself. You will be able to execute your plan and move towards fulfilling your aims and goals.

It is often found that people wake up early in the morning, with a clear vision of what needs to be done, opens the computer and sits there for hours actually DOING NOTHING!

That is where execution is hit. That is where aims remain unaccomplished and success is not achieved.

The whole purpose behind walking up early in the morning is to do what you are supposed to do, and not wasting time just by pretending to be busy. If you are doing that personally, it is time to STOP and get back on track of consistent execution.

At times we take too much on our plate and the plan looks overwhelming. This is a very common scenario when execution fails, even though we try to put consistency in what we do and remain engaged.

So far whatever we have talked about, I am sure we have understood that we need consistency and execution in whatever we do to succeed as a freelancer. Let’s find out now how to execute plans consistently.

How can you execute plans consistently?

This is where it gets trickier. Even when we are consistent, we fail to execute a lot of things in life and in business too. Don’t we?

The answer to this situation here is hidden in the question itself.

We fail to execute a lot of things when we have A LOT OF THINGS to execute or to accomplish.

We do not need to fill up our plate with whatever we get and then struggle to gobble them up. It is not a big fat wedding lunch party! There is no need to take everything on offer. Take a look at the entire buffet, plan what you intend to eat and then take only that much that you can eat and remain happy and healthy even after eating.

Plan a path for yourself. Design it for yourself. Break your plan into smaller parts and set milestones which you can achieve in a certain period. Then, work consistently in executing the smaller part-plans and achieve those small milestones.

After a certain time, when you add up your small achievements, you will see that you have actually achieved quite a lot. Often, this practice of achieving smaller milestones makes us ready to take up bigger assignments over a longer period of time. This is precisely how to succeed as a freelancer or as whatever work profile you have.

Achieving smaller milestones not only bring you closer to your ultimate aim but also boosts you with confidence that you can actually do it.

Set SMART Goals, where your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rational and Time-bound. I have talked a lot about goal setting and SMART Goals in my POWER Freelancing course, which deals mainly with Time Management and Productivity. 

If you have not taken up the course yet, please visit the course page and check the course curriculum and the FREE preview lectures. Only after that if you like the course, please take it up. You can click on the links in this article or use my coupon (POWER10) to get a 90% Discount. This course is specially designed for freelancers, though I am sure it will help everyone who is seeking to explore more about time management and productivity.

Suggested Reading: The Ultimate Freelancing Guide

This was all about consistency and execution, the two main aspects that you must follow if you want to know how to succeed as a freelancer. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding what you have just read. I will be more than happy to answer all your queries.

I am gearing up for the new year. Are you too? Do let me know in your comments on how you are preparing yourself and your business for 2019.

Until next time, keep hustling, and enjoying whatever you love to do. Let’s learn and grow together.

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Thanks a lot,
The Indian Freelancer
Let's Learn and Grow Together!