How to fight when you're pancake flat
Pondering as the inflation crisis and my ongoing existential crisis meld into one.
My mood is a pancake. A dry, unappetising one that is doughy in the middle and burnt at the sides.
This inflation crisis and contracting client budgets has me thinking about freelancing a lot lately. It strikes me as rather strange that I know creativity and innovation comes from the space to be exploring, thoughtful, mentally meandering, and to navel gaze. Yet I’m in a rush to get to the end, to know the outcome. My brain aches to shift away from the discomfort and fill in the spaces like the attention gobbling monster from Quietophobia I am.
It’s on trend to be distracted and in a flurry.
Can I afford to be? Can any of us right now?
Inflation vacuums courage
I wonder if I am losing the ability to problem-solve, sit with discomfort, and ultimately fail at what matters to me because of it. Like my eye is being pulled from my focus somehow.
Will I become another freelancer on the sales conveyor belt trying to convince the world I have it all figured out?
Will I fry and frazzle, leaving only cinders of creative ash where my imagination used to be?
Or, can I learn to re-enter the third space marked, “I will participate, but not as you asked.”
The question (always) is – am I brave enough to do so?
Can I find the optimism needed?
To me, that means pondering:
1. Who can I help through this tough time (client, freelancer or otherwise)?
2. What is unique about the help I can provide?
3. How can I encourage others to stay optimistic, especially when I too feel concerned?
4. How can I get a little sassy, oddball and left-of-centre as I inspire myself and others?
5. What do I need to stay away from, so I don’t ruin my that precious optimism?
6. How can I navigate the world with a sense of curiosity, play, and freedom from obligation?
7. How do I keep myself accountable and inspired, even when the doubts creep in or the barriers come clattering down?
I have one comfort I cling to in tougher times - failure is an option as long as it’s on my own terms. When it hurts is when I’ve done something safe or expected or box-ticky instead of instinct or innovation or inspiration has guided me to and still failed. Or I’ve remained stuck, bored, and sitting flat in the middle of Boredom Road, still hearing the engine grind and the brain smoke billow.
At least if I try and I fail, I can laugh as I go down swinging.
The stuff you’re here for
Last call for your opinions on Australian client management trends. Please answer this for me: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FJ_client (there are some great prizes to be won - a free six hour workshop with me, personal branding stuff with Jess, and free accounting packages for new and existing Rounded customers).
If you’re an accidental community manager who wants to make it easier, you should sign up for this.
Wrangle those clients as you establish boundaries with clients pushing the payment limits, gain better, more useful feedback with 19 helpful questions, and test whether you need to fire that client. Check out this free invoicing template, a huge collection of advice gathered from Australian freelancers to level up your business, and groove through the ultimate guide to freelancer taxes. Catch the action replay of free event Communication and Collaboration: Mastering the Art of Building Successful Relationships between Clients and Freelancers. Grab your Hug a Freelancer art and eBook and other freebies stuff before they go.
Oh, and if you loved the Hug a Freelancer stuff and the events, make sure you tell Rounded on their social media. Telling businesses it is worth their while to invest in activities for freelancers and in our well-being makes us ALL stronger.
Events for you
Ray Pastoors is joining us to take the sting out of Google Analytics 4 and grow your website in the process on June 9th.
Virtual coworking for creative projects and business projects is happening June 9th for Patreon supporters.
Accountant Holly Shoebridge is helping you get ready for the EOFY on June 13th.
Jessica Harkins (Freelance Jungle designer) is running a collaborative stress down to help Patreon supporters shine your branding and design in hands-on, interactive workshop on June 22nd.
Writing to me somehow gives me courage, even if I get a little rickety. I like to imagine you sitting with a cup of tea, having a read and a click somewhere. Maybe there is a tuxedo cat on a sunlit window. Or a snoozing baby in the other room or city construction gnarling at your head through the window that you refuse to give into. Or you’re here because you want to put yourself first and read some old lady’s existential crisis as you go through yours, too.
Whatever the case, thank you. I mean that sincerely. Thank you for being you.
Love and reasons to pull sentences together,
Rebekah
Excellent thoughts here. I am indeed sitting with a cup of tea and a couple of cats in a sunny windowsill (the cats, not me). My motivation is flat too, feels like I've been fighting it for weeks already, things are taking ten times longer than they should. Your things to ponder are very relevant. Thanks for reminding me I'm not alone.
I'm also glad to know I'm not the only one feeling like the canary in the coalmine. Waiting for the rest of the world to notice that our collective stress levels have increased beyond individual fluctuations to a constant communal background noise. Reading your words is a comfort, to feel less alone in this dilemma, to be reminded that there are options, choices, despite the pull & push of the outside world. Thank you (and as a new reader, looking forward to being here).