Self Assessment

That was a lot of information to digest all at once, so 0:00 let's talk about what the key takeaways are from everything we've discussed. 0:03 Freelancing and being your own boss requires knowledge and 0:08 a set of skills that are quite different from being a great employee. 0:11 To understand if you would be good at freelancing, 0:15 you need to understand your capabilities and your limits. 0:18 In other words, you need to complete a simple self-assessment. 0:21 Ask these questions of yourself, and evaluate your answers. 0:26 If you answered a resounding yes, 0:29 then freelancing is absolutely a career path for you. 0:31 If you answered no to all, or 0:35 are unsure, then you might have to rethink what you want to do. 0:36 No's don't mean that you can't freelance, it just means that you might be lacking in 0:41 certain areas, and need to work on them if you want to have a successful career. 0:45 First up, are you self motivated? 0:51 No one is going to tell you what to do, so 0:54 you need to be able to get up on time, get yourself to work, and get things done. 0:56 The self motivation should manifest itself in different areas of your life. 1:01 You should be motivated to teach yourself new things, so 1:06 you stay on top of the industry, and always be in demand. 1:08 You will need to break out of your comfort zone, and 1:12 tackle hard things like business development. 1:14 And, you will have to seek out events to attend, so you can grow your network. 1:17 All these things will be hard if your strengths are solely technical. 1:21 Bu, if you're motivated to learn, you shouldn't have any problems. 1:25 Do you have good time management skills? 1:30 One of the advantages of freelancing is being able to work whenever and 1:32 wherever you want. 1:37 But, the downside of that is it's easy to get distracted. 1:38 Can you set a strict schedule for yourself to get things done? 1:41 Can you dedicate time towards things which are necessary for your career as 1:45 a freelancer, but seem like they're getting in the way of making money? 1:49 Things like conferences, networking events, and 1:53 side projects, and even more important, administrative work. 1:55 All this can take up significant time out of your week that you could spend working. 2:00 Are you good at project management? 2:05 If you don't get a handle on managing projects, 2:07 you won't last that long as a freelancer. 2:09 Finding and securing work is one thing, but 2:12 keeping the client happy throughout the entire process is quite another. 2:15 Hitting your milestones and delivering work on time is very important. 2:19 Are you a good communicator? 2:24 You will be the point of communication for everything in your one-person business. 2:26 You will need to be good at talking to new clients, 2:30 good at pitching to these clients, good at keeping them updated, and 2:33 great at appeasing them if they get annoyed or angry. 2:36 You have to be amazing at keeping your cool with difficult clients, and 2:40 getting them to work with you, and pay you. 2:44 Being a good communicator is essential to succeeding as a freelancer. 2:47 Do you embrace change? 2:51 Nothing is steady about freelancing. 2:53 Clients come and go, and your paycheck fluctuates often. 2:55 You have to be okay with that. 2:59 You have to be able to adapt to the situation, and 3:01 work as hard as you can, and as smart as you can, to overcome the obstacles. 3:03 As daunting as it sounds, it can be fun. 3:08 You can branch out and try different kinds of projects, be an author, 3:11 write a book, get paid to teach other people. 3:14 There's many things you can do, but at the core of it, you have to be okay with 3:17 trying all these different things, and being prepared for the unknown. 3:21 Like I said earlier, answering no to any of these questions doesn't make 3:25 freelancing a bad career choice for you. 3:28 If I had to pick a few characteristics that are really important, 3:31 it's that you are a self-motivated individual, and that you embrace change. 3:34 There are lots of people who start out freelancing being bad at 3:38 most things required. 3:42 But, that didn't stop them. 3:44 They were motivated enough to overcome all of their shortcomings, 3:45 learn what they needed to, and succeed. 3:49 Spend some time answering these questions for yourself. 3:52 Again, it's not about having all these skills right at the outset, but 3:55 determining whether you're the type of person that can learn these 3:59 things as you go. 4:02