As a freelancer, we all wish to be successful! Our definition of success might vary, but we all have bigger goals to accomplish!
And most of the time, we tend to get so busy looking for a secret route that will lead to instant success! But honestly, there’s no underground route to success!
The only way you can grow as a freelancer is to work hard and be smart.
But your habits play a massive role in bringing you closer to success.
So I will share six habits that I have been using for 10+ years to consistently earn a six-figure monthly income.
- Relationship Matters A Lot
Stop considering your projects as a one-time gig!
Honestly, there’s nothing like a one-time gig for an experienced freelancer. They believe in building rapport and long-lasting relationships with the clients. That pays them back very well in the form of more work, recommendations, referrals, excellent testimonials, and case studies.
As a freelancer, these are the building blocks of your successful career.
The only key to attaining all these is building a good relationship with clients.
And never associate how you treat your client, how much attention you provide to the client with the $ amount of the project.
Yes! It’s not going to be easy for you to build relationships with clients, but it will pay off later greatly.
- Set Your Priorities Right
Freelancers tend to struggle a lot when it comes to time, tasks, and slot management.
And the biggest reason for that is not being able to set the right priorities.
It sounds pretty easy! But I had struggled with it a lot in my starting days to figure out the parameters, limits, and factors that will help me set the right priorities for each task and help me manage my time more productively.
We can spend too much time on tasks that don’t need our immediate attention and, in the process, end up forgetting about the ones that are close to deadlines.
That’s the leading cause behind you struggling to find enough time to complete all your tasks.
So how do you figure out your parameters for setting priority for each task?
Follow the method I have been using for years, and it has been working like a charm for me.
- Note down the deadline for each project you are working on!
- Then note down all the tasks you need to do to mark the project or a milestone complete.
- Assign all these tasks a priority number from 1 to 10, depending on their importance.
- Every day, you can pick out 5 or 6 tasks from all your projects and work on them.
I personally use an app called Todoist which is FREE and quite amazing also.
- Schedule or Plan Your Whole Day
A productive day Is always a well-planned day!
It means that even though you have all your tasks sorted out but didn’t plan your whole day, it won’t make much difference. You’ll still end up short on time to do other things.
Remember, you are not only working for clients; you need time to work on your things, marketing, emails, portfolio, social media, client hunting, and the list goes on.
How are you planning to do all those when your whole day is just going to end up meeting the deadlines.
Feeling stressed!!! You should, because I lived the same lifestyle as a freelancer for the first two years.
The only way out was to plan your whole day and get used to doing that every day! As well as being more focused so that you don’t waste too much time on random things.
It’s not easy! Please take my word for it! You need to work hard here to be a six-figure freelancer.
The method I follow is I have divided my day into sections, where I only do one thing and don’t bounce here and there no matter what happens.
For example, 12 to 1 pm is dedicated to social media marketing, where I create content for social media or interact with my followers to build my community. And every day, my schedule keeps on changing depending on the monthly goal I have decided for myself.
- Know your worth and Value (Stop settling for the short end of the stick)
Getting paid less! Not being able to assign the correct price tag! Questioning your worth and values! Doubting your skills!
I am sure all that must have sounded similar to you! It has happened with every freelancer at a certain point in their freelancing career. We all go through this, and there’s no escape, and it’s part of the learning curve!
And this is the stage where many freelancers give up or end up being stuck with low-paying jobs.
You wouldn’t want that!
No one can assign you’re worth other than yourself! They don’t know how hard you have worked to master your skills, to deliver value. They don’t know anything about you and your story.
So stop doubting yourself; and questioning your worth! If you think you are providing value to clients, the client is generating profit because of your work, then charge accordingly.
Be confident about what you do, and portray yourself like that everywhere. Never settle for work that’s doesn’t meet your requirement or your standards.
Your worth cannot be determined by anyone else but YOU! So it’s your own choice whether you settle for the short end of the stick or own the whole stack.
- Find An Accountability Partner
In the beginning, It’s not going to be easy to stay on the clock always.
You’ll have like millions of excuses to give yourself to justify your delays, productivity.
In this whole process, you’d end up wasting days that you could have used to get ahead in the game.
It’s quite a common thing for most freelancers. After all, we all go through quite similar situations in the beginning days. The decisions you make in these beginning days are what going to shape your career as a six-figure, seven-figure freelancer.
How do you get out of this procrastination cycle? How can you accomplish more?
Find an accountability partner! It can be anyone who cares about you and will help you keep in check.
Share your tasks with your accountability partner; at the end of the day, the accountability partner should go through your task list and see what’s pending and how much you have accomplished.
It works way more effectively if you have certain kinds of cash fines attached to failure, excuses, and procrastination.
For example, You’d need to pay $100 to the accountability partner if you fail to accomplish your daily goals.
That will always get your boots on fire!
It works way more effectively if you have certain kinds of cash fines attached to failure, excuses, and procrastination.
For example, You’d need to pay $100 to the accountability partner if you fail to accomplish your daily goals.
That will always get your boots on fire!
- Never Stop Learning
Skills, knowledge, experience are the three critical aspects behind the success of every six-figure freelancer.
How do you get knowledge? How do you upgrade and learn new skills? How do you gain more experience?
LEARN! Keep learning.
You can’t stop learning because the moment you will, you will lose your position, your success to someone who is right behind you, and still eager, excited to learn new things.
Freelancing is a rat race! We all are running, competing, and growing consistently. The moment we show signs of laziness is when we lose our spot.
If you want to stay ahead in the game, keep growing, and earn higher profits, then you can’t stop learning ever.
“Knowledge is the key to success. The more you know, the more you are capable.” – Romy Singh.
- My Conclusion
I firmly believe the main reason behind every six-figure freelancer is their habits.
If you want to be a six-figure freelancer, then the first thing you need to do is make some habits that will help you climb the ladder of success faster than everyone else.
There are six most powerful habits you can develop over a period!
It’s not going to be an easy ride, but success was never easy to attain. If you crave success as a freelancer, then work on these habits.
Focus on building relationships with clients, learn how to set the right priorities, plan your whole day, never sell yourself short, find an accountability partner who helps you stay top of everything, and never stop learning new things.
No matter what service you provide as a freelancer, use these habits to get closer to being a successful six-figure freelancer.
