Surrendering. Ah. Feels like floating, yes?
As a freelancer, you are most successful when you surrender to the natural flow of work and opportunities.
Leaving full-time employment is like throwing yourself out of a confining, separating boat into the flowing river of life, the universe and everything.
You can be overwhelmed and scared. Terrified of drowning. Or you can practice non-resistance – relax, float, tread water, be supported by unseen under-currents when you feel yourself sinking, make like a fish and swim fast, and always, be the one who decides when you’ll head for land to rest up a while.
And you must rest and not fret when work is quiet. You need to snatch intense moments of ‘stolen time’ when a project falls through or is postponed, your diary is suddenly blank, your meeting canceled. This is so important in maintaining the momentum of your successful flow.
Worrying about a lack of work during quiet times is a fast-track to burn-out as well as a self-fulfilling prophecy (see, YOU really are in charge!). You must allow yourself to fill your reserve tank of energy and inspiration when your workload drops. You must give yourself permission to cut loose and rest so you can crank up fast for the, (again, often sudden) times when you’re a dynamo of getting-stuff-done.
The more you surrender to this external force, the less tired you will be fighting it and the more energy you’ll have to work it. It doesn’t take long to find yourself ‘in flow’, trust in the process, and then – wow! – you’re living life on your own terms, contributing in a valuable way and feeling fulfilled.
You look around and your vision is not limited by the hard edges of a boat but marked only by your very own boundary – the line where water meets land. in the wide rivers and vast oceans of freelancing possibilities, this is your horizon – exactly where you want it to be.
Image borrowed from artist Sam Nagel one of a range of paintings and fine art prints available from her Etsy shop.
