Viewing the World Through the Eyes of a Freelance Writer

There comes a point in every freelancer writer's life where the world takes on an entirely new look. Not unlike when Neo from The Matrix trilogy finally starts to see the world around him for the 0s and 1s that it was. When a paying gig is time and time is money, a writer starts to see the world and the cost associated with it in terms of gigs. For example, if I'm considering the purchase and finance of a new car, I ask myself how many gigs a month that's going to be. That's three gigs for me, which means if I can find three hours a month to pull off those gigs, then I can get a new car. There's a great hot springs location in Montana near by and if I'm thinking about taking the wife for a weekend get away, well, that's about 5 gigs. However, where freelance writing comes in most handy is for all the reasons we can't see coming. So let me explain. 

I'm Never Going to Financially Recover From This

Now, Joe Exotic from the famed Tiger King reality show made that quote famous, but I'm confident that we've all felt that way at some point in our lives. It always seems to be something that comes up in life from a car repair, broken HVAC unit in the middle of summer, or the infamous "oops I waited to long to get a vasectomy and now we have another kid on the way." Speaking of, I better pay attention that last statement as it is long past time to get the zippidy taken out of my doo-da as well. 

True story, just last week I received a speeding ticket from the fine men and women of the Washington State Highway Patrol. Now, I'm a big supporter of LEO, so I'd never disparage them anyway. However, I honestly wasn't mad about it. As the patrolman approached my car from behind I though to myself, "We'll there's two gigs down drain." I'm just not bothered by life's expenses anymore. It's not because I'm rich, but rather, because I've put in the work to be able to land jobs nearly on command. 

Freelance Writing is the Ultimate Side Hustle

I'm not entirely sure if it's 100% healthy to view the world through the gig mindset, but it does help me prioritize time. When you start your freelance writing journey, you won't be able to command the highest rates at first. Then again, even at the entry level I don't tell anyone to work for less than $25 to $50 a gig or for an hour's worth of your time. 

However, if I want to purchase some luxury I ask myself if it's worth the time. Would I rather spend 8 hours with my kids on a Saturday or purchase that new AR-15 build. I mean I love my kids and all, but "one more" is always the perfect number of guns. Then, there are times where you don't have a choice. When it comes to providing for my kids there is nothing I won't sacrifice.

Whatever it takes for the family

If I need to stay up late one night and make a couple hundred bucks to pay for soccer, then so be it. If my spending a few hours writing each week allows my wife to continue to stay home and spend these precious irreplaceable years with the kids, then so be it. A few years ago, I took the family to Disneyland for the full stay at the resort experience. It wasn't cheap, but it was worth every single one of the 37 gigs it took to get there. 

I've said it many times before, I'm not rich, but I don't worry about money anymore. I just know I can make the money when I need it and that's ultimately what I want to give to the world through my writing course. I think I've told this story before, but five years ago when I first started my blog, I didn't even know paid writing existed. When I got ready to put a little money into my blog, my wife gave me one of those loving lectures along the lines of, "If you are going to spend this money on a blog, you better actually write on it."

Now, if in that moment I had said, "you know honey, you're right. Now's not the best time to spend this money" and had shut the laptop, I would have unknowingly been flushing away over $100,000 in the years to come. So if you're on the fence about whether to pursue the course, I'm just going to suggest that the ceiling is high and the floor low for how well you can do. Give your family a shot. In fact, if you check out the link below you can preview the first module for free. My zero risk strategic bet that you and your family deserve it. 

View the first lesson free here!

Stay tuned to this blog for more insight into the worldview of a freelance writer.