Is Fear of Failure Holding You Back From Freelance Success?

Necessity. It’s the Mother of Invention. Necessity is typically followed by action of some sort. It also brings about motivation, and together with discomfort, the three are key factors in determining your success as a freelancer.

Fear often causes paralysis, and is a significant hindrance to your success. Unfortunately, discomfort often causes fear. So are you doomed for failure if you’re afraid? Not necessarily, because discomfort can also create a sense of necessity.

There are usually two classes of freelancers: Those who want to freelance, and are starting out by taking on some side projects while holding down a full-time job, and those who have either been fired, laid off, quit their jobs or can’t find a job, and are freelancing not only because they want to, but because they have no choice if they want to survive. Which group do you think is going to achieve quicker success?

My goal here is not to paint a rosy picture of the power of positive thinking. While I do believe those ideas and practices hold merit, I’m here to point out some facts that will make sense to you and hopefully allow you to move forward with a successful freelance or consulting career.

If you are starting out as a freelancer, you have to have a strong motivation to succeed. Those of you with steady jobs: You may have a strong motivation to succeed, but I would argue that for most of you, that motivation isn’t as strong as someone who has found themselves out of work and is freelancing to put food on the table. That’s because you have some level of comfort in your life. You know that your next paycheck is coming, regardless of whether you land a new project in the next month or not. Necessity is the driving force behind the motivation of the group that is out of work. They take action every single day because it’s necessary for them to do so if they want to feed their families.

For you to succeed, you must take action. If you’re fearful of failing, you may be stalling without realizing it. Having that comfort zone allows you to be afraid and inactive, but it is also holding you back from realizing your dreams. I’m not advocating for you to quit your day job. I’m asking you to step outside of your comfort zone and take action. Take advantage of every single bad day you have at work. If you want to quit and freelance full-time, there must be a reason. You must not be completely happy with your current situation, or you’d probably stay there. So take advantage of every little ounce of discomfort that comes your way, and allow it to motivate you to take action. Is your boss giving you a hard time? Let yourself feel like it’s absolutely necessary that you be able to quit your job in less than a month, and take action every single day towards that goal.

Identify what you’re afraid of that might be holding you back, and take action by finding a solution. Afraid of not having health insurance? There are plenty of companies that offer that and numerous other benefits to independent consultants, such as MBO Partners. Fearful of not being able to find clients? Join your local Chamber of Commerce, attend some networking events. Do a couple of pro-bono jobs to build your portfolio, and get some testimonials from those clients.

Challenge yourself to do one small thing every single day that is a bit out of your comfort zone, and will get you closer to reaching your goals. Ask any highly successful person how they did it, and they’ll tell you they kept getting back up and trying again every time they failed. The only difference between them and you is that they kept taking action in the face of fear, and the face of failure.