In my experience, it can be incredibly difficult to stay motivated—whether that is motivation to do well on an assignment, find more work, or just get out of bed in the morning. There are different forms of motivation. When I was in basic training (as yes, I am a shining member of the Army National Guard) my motivation came in the form of screaming drill sergeants. I was forced to motivate myself to do a variety of things. There were two distinct patterns this motivation took at that time:
1. Saying to myself, “well, I don’t really have a choice in the matter. I have to do it right this time because there is no way I want to go through it again.
2. I would continue to run laps, thinking about how delicious those pancakes were going to be at breakfast (despite the fact I rarely got more than three minutes to enjoy them).
Though both seemed to be effective for that particular situation, when it comes to motivating myself in terms of my freelancing career, the latter most certainly wins out. I am what some people refer to as a workaholic. My poor boyfriend can attest that I spend way more time working than the average person. When he pleads with me to relax a little, however, I respond that I have goals that I’m working toward. I certainly don’t enjoy spending the better part of my free time typing away, but the fact of the matter is that I’m nowhere close to where I want to be in my career, and though money is certainly not everything, it sure means a lot when you’re a college student neck-deep in debt wanting to travel the world.
Goal-setting isn’t just about saying, “Oh, I want to do great things,” however. You have to be explicit, and you have to be reasonable. Because I am a neurotic list-maker, this comes rather natural to me. It is quite simple, though, to set simple goals for yourself—be them short-term, long-term, or both. I prefer both. My incredibly short-term goals stand in form as a To-Do list. It is more or less a list of assignments and errands needing run. The minute I finish this blog post, I will cross one more item off of the list. I don’t know about you, but when I am able to cross something off, I feel a great wave of accomplishment and empowerment take over and I tend to feel even more motivated to start on other tasks.
Making lists of goals is also a great way to stay focused and organized. It is easy to forget that you had to do something or the other. It is also easy to say, “I’m going to try and bolster my freelancing career” with no logical plan for how to accomplish this. My goals tend to be a bit more pointed. For instance, one of my goals for this year is to obtain a job or internship that is either socially meaningful or related to my academic area of study (namely, Sociology). My plan of action in this case is to search, search, search. It is also to write, write, write. As I use this website (and my freelancing career) as a platform for making change, finding more meaningful assignments is another step I take in this direction.
Goals can be used in every area of your life—be it in a professional sense, a financial sense, or even in terms of personal improvement. The one piece of advice that I give anyone I come across is to be introspective. Many of us are unsatisfied with our lives or ourselves in some capacity. I feel this is natural and favorable if understood the correct way. Visualize the kind of person you want to be and the life you want to live. Write it out. If you want to take this in terms of your business, do it that way as well. You may imagine yourself or your business to be more successful, more socially conscious, or less wasteful, etc. Whatever it is, put it down. When finished, note the discrepancies between who you are now and who you want to be. You now have goals and are ready to create an action plan.
I’m all about action. So I find that setting goals that are not actionable seems to be a bit asinine and unrealistic. Just saying, “I want to be a better person” or “I want to make more money” is great, but not actionable. Understand why you want to achieve these goals, and how you will do so. When it comes to motivation for freelance writing, my goals tend to fall into a few different categories:
1. Money. We all want to make more of it, but I remind myself that I need to make more money to achieve my goals, which this year are to pay of my credit card and take a vacation over Christmas.
2. Impact. I remind myself that in order to change the world, I need to act. I believe just as much as the next person that ideas and visions are beautiful things, but in order to really make a difference you need to do. So I write more.
3. Pride. When I say pride, I mean so in a healthy way. I’m a person attempting to work toward a greater level of independence, and in many ways my freelancing career is a direct show of what I have built for myself. Be proud of what you have accomplished. You worked for it and built it yourself.
I’m sure I could ramble on for longer about goals and how great they are (because they really are!) but I think you’ve got enough to start making your own goals. Just remember to keep them close by. I like to write mine down and keep them somewhere visible. These will help you stay focused and motivated. And remember than when it feels like you just cant do any more, there is always a drill sergeant out there that could make you do just a teensy bit more.
My last point? Don’t forget to take a breather! Hard work is great, but you have to take time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Cheers, everyone!
