A few months back, my year anniversary for the FLF came up. I decided that it would be a good idea to create a sort of “Yearly Update”.
Honestly, though, I kept pushing it off. I was scared as hell. More than that, I was even ashamed. When others post their yearly updates and they’re just doing so well, it’s intimidating. Because my story isn’t the same.
You see, while I could blab on and on about how much I grew as a person, the results just weren’t there.
This is a story that ends in failure.
Why My Progress Thread Died:
I had a short-lived fiction writing Progress Thread that I ended up abandoning. It was an attempt to write for the market.
Unfortunately, I hated the market.
It was terrible. I hated what I was writing. I’ve always enjoyed telling a good story.
But, since writing purely for a market was making me lose my enjoyment of writing fiction, I decided it wasn’t worth it. I would find something else.
MJ mentions something similar in TMF . He has a friend that can paint quite well, however she refuses to sell her work because it would affect her enjoyment of the process.
So, I shelved the ‘write to market’ idea.
But I needed something new.
Back in the Freelancing Game
I freelanced regularly in high school. I didn’t have to work as many hours as my friends and it paid for my pizza and Steam games. So, I dusted off my eLance/Upwork profile and got back into the game.
My plan was to develop a large enough income stream that by the time I graduated college, I wouldn’t need to pick up a traditional job. This way, I could focus on a Fastlane business in the future.
After brushing up on my copy skills (my ‘profession’ in high school) I went back to work.
At first, it wasn’t bad. I was getting jobs relatively easily, consistently got good reviews, and I was making a bit of money.
But it wasn’t enough. I was juggling a part-time job, college, and the freelancing. So, I decided to leave my job to focus on the freelancing. I had been considering leaving anyway, so freelancing worked as the catalyst for it.
At first, it was going well. A few hundred bucks here and there. Happy customers. It looked like I would be able to make it work.
And then a wall. I couldn’t ramp up the income.
My fault? You're damn right. I could have applied to more jobs. Spent longer time on each proposal. Tried harder to get off Upwork.
I’m not going to bullshit and say, “But oh, it’s so hard on Upwork.” Yea, it was hard. But I could have done more. I could have tried harder.
It was no one’s fault but my own.
I was getting just enough work to keep freelancing, but not enough to make it a real income once I was out of college.
You blend that with some stupid spending habits and I found myself dug into a hole.
Thankfully, the hole wasn’t the biggest hole in the world. But, it was more than big enough to hurt.
By the end of it, I was burnt out. Stressed about everything. It was time for a new approach.
Which Brings Us Up to Now
Here I am.
With:
But that’s being ungrateful. Taking stock of what I do have:
I’ve also picked up a local retail job. It’ll be regular income so I can pay off my debt and take control of my bills.
So? My year’s recap: I won’t say I crashed and burned. But there was absolutely a totaling of the vehicle and plenty of fires to be put out.
My Goals for the Next Year:
Pay Off my Debt: Obviously a priority.
Gather an Emergency Fund: Just in case things go south.
Increase Income: I’m going to alter my freelance approach and niche down. I’ll also be on the lookout for job openings. This will let me achieve the above goals faster, and start accumulating a war chest.
Things I Have Learned:
Wrap Up: I could write a thousand more words. Talk about things I could have done differently. The few things I did right. A hundred more things. But I've taken enough of your time here. I just wanted to let the forum know that my first story ended with failure.
But my next one doesn’t have to.
Honestly, though, I kept pushing it off. I was scared as hell. More than that, I was even ashamed. When others post their yearly updates and they’re just doing so well, it’s intimidating. Because my story isn’t the same.
You see, while I could blab on and on about how much I grew as a person, the results just weren’t there.
This is a story that ends in failure.
Why My Progress Thread Died:
I had a short-lived fiction writing Progress Thread that I ended up abandoning. It was an attempt to write for the market.
Unfortunately, I hated the market.
It was terrible. I hated what I was writing. I’ve always enjoyed telling a good story.
But, since writing purely for a market was making me lose my enjoyment of writing fiction, I decided it wasn’t worth it. I would find something else.
MJ mentions something similar in TMF . He has a friend that can paint quite well, however she refuses to sell her work because it would affect her enjoyment of the process.
So, I shelved the ‘write to market’ idea.
But I needed something new.
Back in the Freelancing Game
I freelanced regularly in high school. I didn’t have to work as many hours as my friends and it paid for my pizza and Steam games. So, I dusted off my eLance/Upwork profile and got back into the game.
My plan was to develop a large enough income stream that by the time I graduated college, I wouldn’t need to pick up a traditional job. This way, I could focus on a Fastlane business in the future.
After brushing up on my copy skills (my ‘profession’ in high school) I went back to work.
At first, it wasn’t bad. I was getting jobs relatively easily, consistently got good reviews, and I was making a bit of money.
But it wasn’t enough. I was juggling a part-time job, college, and the freelancing. So, I decided to leave my job to focus on the freelancing. I had been considering leaving anyway, so freelancing worked as the catalyst for it.
At first, it was going well. A few hundred bucks here and there. Happy customers. It looked like I would be able to make it work.
And then a wall. I couldn’t ramp up the income.
My fault? You're damn right. I could have applied to more jobs. Spent longer time on each proposal. Tried harder to get off Upwork.
I’m not going to bullshit and say, “But oh, it’s so hard on Upwork.” Yea, it was hard. But I could have done more. I could have tried harder.
It was no one’s fault but my own.
I was getting just enough work to keep freelancing, but not enough to make it a real income once I was out of college.
You blend that with some stupid spending habits and I found myself dug into a hole.
Thankfully, the hole wasn’t the biggest hole in the world. But, it was more than big enough to hurt.
By the end of it, I was burnt out. Stressed about everything. It was time for a new approach.
Which Brings Us Up to Now
Here I am.
With:
- A Liberal Arts Degree. Because in my wisdom, I thought that would be a good move.
- Credit Card Debt. Manageable, but a priority to get rid of.
- Low Income.
But that’s being ungrateful. Taking stock of what I do have:
- No student debt. I had a merit scholarship, so my degree didn’t come with ten thousand in loans.
- Copywriting Experience.
- Few expenses. No kids, very affordable rent, etc. Things could be much worse.
I’ve also picked up a local retail job. It’ll be regular income so I can pay off my debt and take control of my bills.
So? My year’s recap: I won’t say I crashed and burned. But there was absolutely a totaling of the vehicle and plenty of fires to be put out.
My Goals for the Next Year:
Pay Off my Debt: Obviously a priority.
Gather an Emergency Fund: Just in case things go south.
Increase Income: I’m going to alter my freelance approach and niche down. I’ll also be on the lookout for job openings. This will let me achieve the above goals faster, and start accumulating a war chest.
Things I Have Learned:
- Don’t Be an Idiot: I spent badly and for stupid reasons. However, silver lining, I have better habits now. I can at least be glad that I didn’t dig myself into a ten-thousand-dollar hole to realize this.
- I Don’t Mind Working Every Day: For the most part, not having a day off didn’t faze me. I rather enjoyed always being ‘on’, constantly thinking about work. This did backfire at the end, as I was really burnt out by not having a single ‘off’ moment.
- My Girlfriend has Infinite Patience with Me: Too much, probably. More than anything, she wants me to be happy. More than anything, I need to do right by her.
Wrap Up: I could write a thousand more words. Talk about things I could have done differently. The few things I did right. A hundred more things. But I've taken enough of your time here. I just wanted to let the forum know that my first story ended with failure.
But my next one doesn’t have to.
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