The Freelance Downturn, Part 2: Perspectives to help you ride out The Ebb™️
Sending strength to all independent spirits (plus a coaching session on me)
This is the second instalment of a two-part series on the freelance downturn. Read the first part here.
Now we’ve covered what’s going on + the accompanying emotional and existential wobbles, it’s time for some hope! Here are some perspectives that have helped me and my coaching clients—plus, a ✨ free✨ coaching session, on me (scroll to the end to apply).
I’m not in the business of dishing out prescriptive advice. And even if I was…well, something I know to be true, both from my work as a coach and my firsthand experience as a freelancer/human, is that there is no perfect way to be during moments of uncertainty.
In fact, simply being is perhaps the biggest challenge when life doesn’t go to plan.
In our relentlessly optimising society, we are so heavily conditioned to anticipate what’s next—whether it’s capturing the present moment to garner the most future likes, or furiously tracking our biometrics to ward off potential illness—that we are not very good at this.
However, anti-optimising isn’t the same thing as letting go of optimism. And as much as I think it’s important to be honest about the realities of being self-employed right now, I am not without hope.
So I thought I’d share a few perspectives that may help as we navigate what feels like a pretty seismic shift in the world of self-employment (and work as a whole).
What follows are (often hard-won!!) lessons from my 3+ years as a freelancer, stories from my coaching clients, and some coaching psychology insights that I think are pertinent to the Freelance Funk.
If any of them resonate, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Better yet, let me know what helps you when work isn’t exactly flowing, and you need a bit of faith…
Bonus perspective: listen to George Michael
1. This may be the worst time to be self-employed. But what if it’s the best time to get to know yourself?
I recently went to a talk given by Margaret Heffernan, author of Embracing Uncertainty. The book is all about what artists can teach us about working (and being) in unpredictable, volatile times.
Since uncertainty is pretty much a given in their careers, artists need to have a huge capacity for resilience and reinvention. For starters, they’re usually operating in systems that don’t place much value on being an artist—capitalism is defined by the finished product, not the process, and artists need to spend a hell of a lot of time on the process. Secondly, reinvention is a prerequisite for creativity. Artists are in constant dialogue with their identity, and they must be able to adapt and evolve, both in order to survive and to keep creating original work.
While it’s scary, I think being stripped of our “professional” identity can also be a gift. It forces us to look at ourselves through the lens of our values, core purpose or personal strengths—our intrinsic value as a human being—not work experience, accolades, or marketable skills. To take a step back and notice what’s working and what isn’t. To imagine what our lives and careers could look like from the vantage point of a blank canvas.
So…
What are you learning about yourself in this period of uncertainty?
When it comes to reinvention, is anything calling your name?
What could you do with these insights—even when things go back to “normal”?
2. Self-employment (and life) is a dance between Meaning and Stability.
I picked up this framework from a podcast conversation between Elise Loehnen and Satya Doyle Byock on the Byock’s book, Quarterlife.
Byock writes about this dichotomy as a personality type. Much in the same way as we think of introversion and extroversion, some of us steer towards “Meaning Types” (who seek meaning and value as their primary goal) and others are “Stability Types” (who seek structure and safety as their primary goal).
Her theory is that contentedness lies in finding equilibrium between the two. However, lots of us are off-balance. Stability Types may have jumped through the socially-sanctioned hoops (good job, relationship, home, car, etc.) only to find themselves disgruntled and dissatisfied. While Meaning Types may be so focused on finding purpose that they neglect their basic needs of security and stability.
I think this balance can be especially tricky to get right as a freelancer. On the one hand, most of us are what I call “more-to-lifers”—those who defected from the 9-5 (great post on this here) in search of greater autonomy, purpose, and meaning. On the other hand, most of us are also high achievers (you need a healthy dose of drive, discipline and structure to make self-employment viable) who may struggle to extricate “success” from the very things we defected from: clear progression, impressive salaries, and being busy 9-5, five days a week.
My (Internal Family Systems-informed) inclination is to view the Meanings vs. Stability binary less as two “types” and more as two “parts” that coexist within us. To feel at peace, perhaps we need to reconcile these two parts of ourselves, finding ways to make both feel valid, useful, and safe.
For example, forgoing some idealism to take on a lucrative, if a little boring, client that pays the bills—because taking care of the Stability part might free up the Meaning part to focus on more exciting projects. Equally, it could be sacrificing a meatier fee to take on a passion project.
Of course, our Stability parts are going to be feeling very threatened by the current uncertainty. And our Meaning parts may go into overdrive to compensate—overthinking something we don’t actually have much control over, coming up with dramatic (but perhaps a little impractical) ways to reinvent ourselves, etc.
So…
How are your Stability and Meaning parts doing right now?
What do they need to feel safe or fulfilled?
How could you find a happy medium between the two?
3. Learning to practice the art of discernment.
I often talk about the difference between instinct and intuition, where:
Instinct = more primal, automatic responses shaped by our need to survive (from reflexively dodging a tomato that someone throws at you, to your nervous system going into fight or flight before a big presentation).
Intuition = a deeper sense of inner knowing shaped by our subconscious (or even the collective unconscious, if you’re feeling Jungian).
The “chaos” phase I spoke about in Part 1 (frantically updating your LinkedIn bio/emailing everyone in your address book/applying to woefully misaligned roles) can be characterised by these survival instincts—when we’re acting from a place of stress, we tend towards that busy work that makes us feel like we are fighting, but may in fact be a distraction.
We need to practice the art of discernment to distinguish between the two, so that we can make sound judgments on how to respond (not react) and (genuinely) productively spend our time—which might simply be resting.
I also think discernment is an especially important muscle to flex in times of scarcity when a) we may be tempted to compromise our integrity and b) others may be tempted take advantage of us.
There will be a lot of people (social media “gurus”, online course sellers, even business coaches) trying to profit from our misfortune. But this is a global issue across the freelancing community—it’s unlikely there will be a magic formula that is going to “crack the code” and single you out to make millions, while the rest of us change our banners to “Desperate” on LinkedIn.
So…
What do instinct and intuition feel like to you? (and by the way, both are useful!)
How might this guide your decision-making?
What would it look like to trust your own authority, rather than outsourcing the answers to somebody else?
4. Knowing the difference between evaluations and observations.
A coaching client of mine was feeling bruised after a layoff that left him doubting the entirety of his (decades-long) career. He’d been applying to job after job, but with little “success”. And that self-doubting part had a lot to say about it: from questioning his employability, to blaming other people.
But so often, the “facts” we hold to be true are nothing but stories. My client was telling himself he was being ignored by recruiters, internalising their lack of communication as a rejection. This was an evaluation.
We played with switching these to observations. The only fact we knew to be true was that the recruiter hadn’t replied. That didn’t mean they were “ignoring” (an evaluation) my client—they could be busy, they could still be sifting through the applications, they could have a personal crisis going on. Whatever the case, it wasn’t necessarily about my client.
The takeaway: there are a billion reasons for other people’s behaviour, 99.9% of which are totally beyond our control. But what we can control is the stories we tell ourselves about them.
So…
What evaluations do you notice yourself making?
How could you reframe them so they become objective observations instead?
What difference does this make?
And on the subject of reframes…
5. If you can’t believe in yourself, believe in something else.
Our self-belief will inevitably take a knock when we are facing ghosting, lowballing, rejection, and other delights. And sometimes, motivational affirmations don’t cut it.
Take another client of mine, who was working in a high-pressure startup role for a boss who constantly undermined her abilities. She was trying to get out and find a new role, but he’d chipped away at her confidence so much that she was having a tough time putting herself out there.
Instead of trying to dial up that inner confidence, we simply accepted that she was (understandably!) feeling vulnerable in her current situation, and tried redirecting her attention into something she did believe in. She reconnected to a cause she was passionate about and channelled her convictions into a creative project…which ultimately led to her landing a new job.
The point is, the platitudes to #BelieveInYourself are not always helpful. Acceptance is usually much more powerful than forcing change, and sometimes we need to look beyond ourselves to find courage again.
So…
What do you accept that you cannot change?
What are your personal beliefs of convictions? What fires you up? Tugs at your heartstrings? Brings you joy?
How could you channel your energy into these beliefs and convictions?
6. Investing in long-term relationships, not short-term tactics.
One of the top questions I get asked about freelancing is: how do you get clients?
I think this question usually carries an expectation that there are a tried and tested tactics or foolproof hacks that will have clients flocking to us in their droves. But my “strategy” over the past three years (and to be honest, throughout my career)? Being nice to people.
Having a clear positioning, a strong portfolio and a bit of online visibility does help as a freelancer. But in my experience, most of the work comes from relationships: Slack communities, chance encounters, friends of friends, sisters of clients, other freelancers. I know it’s stating the obvious, but if someone enjoys working with you, they are likely to hire you again—or recommend you to someone else.
This includes making friends with the competition. Freelancing can be isolating, especially in tough times. We all need community to a) normalise and support each other through the challenges (I can guarantee the LinkedIn posts are only telling half of the story) and b) give each other work (whether by vouching for each other or passing on a gig that isn’t quite the right fit for us).
So…
Where do you need support? Who could you ask for help?
Where could you find community?
How could you be generous with your time, energy and experience?
7. Trusting in the process, not the results.
I recently landed a copywriting gig with a client that had been on my wish list for ages. Not because I’d done a clever bells-and-whistles lead gen funnel, but because—you guessed it—I’d nurtured relationships with two of their team members across several years. It was a pleasant surprise and a reminder that consistency pays off.
In our vanity-metrics-driven world, our nervous systems have been programmed to expect immediate results and validation. But there is so much going on beyond our line of vision, which isn’t captured by publisher dashboards and algorithms.
As I wrote about below, I don’t have the viral reach and engagement or enormous following that we’ve come to equate with success on social media. However, I often get lovely, thoughtful messages from people who’ve resonated with my work and clients often reference my posts in discovery calls. That’s what tells me it’s “working”—not the numbers in the analytics software.
Also, writing is something that I love to do—so if nothing else, it’s a chance for me to express myself and work out my ideas. Whereas spending hours working out how to film a TikTok without giving myself six chins would send me over the edge.
So…
What do you have enough energy and motivation to do consistently?
Which “metrics” really move the needle for you? For your business and for you personally?
How can you trust the process?
And while we’re talking about social media…
8. Giving your brain a rest from information, to make space for inspiration.
Most of us recourse to screen-time—social media, WhatsApp, emails, Netflix—when we need to escape uncomfortable emotions or sensations. We reflexively reach for the phone, we check, we scroll, we refresh, we compare, we yearn, we numb.
Whether we are passively consuming or actively churning out content, it can quickly turn into a hamster wheel that does no favours to our nervous systems, self-worth or creative juice.
Even pre-iPhone, Julia Cameron saw the need for artists to preserve their precious energy and headspace in order to access inspiration, clarity, and original thought. That’s why she prescribes reading deprivation in week four of The Artist’s Way.
I think that what we’d now term content deprivation is one of the most radical and effective things we can do for our mental health and our ability to produce good work: to shut the laptop or leave the phone behind. To resist the pressure to “keep up” and know that the world will not fall apart, you will not lose out, people will not forget you, if you retreat from the digital hemisphere for a day or two.
As getting stranded on a train in the Spanish blackout recently reminded me, we spend so much time living in a world that’s really just an illusion. Sometimes, we need to get out into the real one and see what happens.
So…
Where do you notice outside noise infringing on your headspace?
What’s the smallest step you could take to tune it out?
What’s the most radical step you could take to tune it out?
And if you could do with some extra support….
I’m giving away 10 free coaching sessions for independent spirits navigating The Ebb™️*
In the good times and the bad times, self-employment is always going to have its challenges. However, not everyone in our lives—our partners, family or friends—will be able to relate. Self-employment is still the “alternative” path, meaning the things we worry about are often met with blank faces.
That’s why community is so important. And I believe it’s also incredibly valuable to have an objective sounding board.
I meet with my coach every other week and I’d honestly be lost without that time to reflect. It gives me much-needed emotional maintenance, it forces me to pull my head out of the weeds and reconnect to the bigger picture, and it provides a totally non-judgmental, unwanted-opinions-free space to work out how I truly think and feel.
I’m also lucky enough to deliver coaching to some fantastic self-employed people via Sounding Board, my 1:1 pathway for independent spirits.
However, I know that:
a) Coaching can feel scary when you’ve never done it before (especially with all those cowboy business coaches lurking on LinkedIn)
b) Coaching can feel like a big expense when money’s tight
So to give back to the self-employed community in these weird times, I’m giving away 10 free coaching sessions to freelancers, creatives, coaches, consultants, and small business owners.
This is for you if:
You work for yourself (full-time or part-time)
You’re curious about coaching and you want to give it a try (no strings attached)
You’ve had coaching before, but you’re in need of a reset
You’re looking for clarity, perspective and actionable insight on the emotional or existential themes of self-employment (identity, relationships, purpose, values, imposter feelings, procrastination, perfectionism, etc.), not strategic or financial advice
What I mean by that last point is that I’m an accredited transformative coach, not a business mentor. While I’m happy to share my own perspectives and experiences if we agree it will serve you, my practice is about using evidence-based psychology (and good old fashioned conversation) to deepen your self-awareness, uncover your own answers, and help you move forwards in a way that feels right for you (not the business guru who claims they’ll 5x your income 😉).
👉 You can learn more and apply for a free session here. 👈
Any questions, drop me a message. I hope to meet some of you soon! 🙂
*Shoutout to Lucy Sanderson for giving it the TM badge of honour. I love an ironic TM.
About me + Messy Work
I’m Lucia, a writer and coach based in Bristol, UK. I work with independent spirits, recovering high achievers, deep thinkers, and big feelers who can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to life. And write about the messy (but beautiful!) work of figuring it all out—which encompasses everything from freelance careers, to quitting London, to quietly mourning the days when I used to ask the DJ to play Drake.
I read this over the weekend (so glad I did). So much stuck with me, but maybe this part of a sentence resonated the most: "We spend so much time living in a world that’s really just an illusion." I believe this is especially true about LinkedIn, where I spend most of my time. Wonderfully written, Lucia. Thanks for following up with part two.