Happy Friday! If you’re a regular reader, you know that on Fridays, I review my week and look forward to the week ahead. Then I set my intentions.
Change has been afoot lately. I’ve wrapped up a few large client projects. As a freelancer, I rely on a stable of clients for my income. We all know it’s wise to avoid putting all our eggs in one basket. The only problem: It’s the proverbial feast or famine.
Some clients and projects come while others go. There never seems to be a consistent pace, but that’s how this life works. I really can’t complain.
Last year, I decided to stop fretting about where my next paycheck was coming from and just trust the Universe. And, whadda ya know, it came through:
- An old client popped up out of the blue.
- Someone who’d been pursuing me reached out to ask if this was a good time to reconnect.
- I took a chance and sought out a new gig and was hired on the spot.
With very little effort, I was managing multiple projects. Yay me!
However, now that one of my larger projects has concluded, and another is due to wrap up in the next couple months, I’m feeling the urge to fret again.
What? It’s what writers do.
It seems like no matter how many times someone hires us, we always stress about landing that next project that will keep the bills paid.
So, here I am again, starting to get a little anxious about what the future holds, and wondering how I’m going to replace the income I’ll be losing when a certain income stream runs dry.
But you know what?
I don’t need to think that way. In fact, I thought I might challenge myself to elevate my freelancing game. Not only do I want to stop thinking like a poor person, I want to set my financial expectations higher. So, I’m looking at my income over the last few months and challenging myself to hit a certain number. I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to gambling, but I still want to push myself. That’s why, in April, I’m making it my goal to earn about 25 percent more than I earned in March.
I keep an Excel spreadsheet to track my income and I added a new worksheet recently, titled Income Goals. This allows me to play with figures and see how, incrementally, I can set some smaller goals in order to achieve a much larger one.
No idea where it’s going to come from. (Universe, feel free to jump in here. I’ll wait.) It might mean taking on more editing or proofreading clients, or exploring new arenas entirely. We’ll see what happens. But to that end, my affirmation for the coming week will be:
I am capable of exceeding my expectations.
Now, let’s see where that leads.
Do you like to use affirmations?