Ups and downs of working for yourself
Since 2012, I work outside the corporate life.
It means I have my own weird world of daily meetings, projects, lessons, seminars, events and etc. Working for yourself or on your terms has many ups and some major downs.
Let’s start with Downs:
1. Almost no security.
You never know what is awaiting you. You are your own boss. It is your job to make and give money to yourself. And if you are a lousy boss well then brace yourself for bad moments that will come. For most of the people it becomes an act of survival. You fight for every single penny. This takes away from your creative self. (Ironically, it also ignites it in a very strange way.)
2. Lack of solid routine or presence of extreme chaos.
Even writers need routine. They need it to be mentally sane. People have a tendency to feel depressed if they float around too much without a timetable or cycles.
3. Safety of an Umbrella.
Many of us find it much safer and legitimate to work for big names, brands, corporations. (For a very long time.) This puts a lot of weight into our reputations. People respect us.
4. Timing and volume of payments.
When you work in Azerbaijan and you are not an expat you will be underpaid and you may wait for the payments to come in a long time. (I mean very long time.)
Enough for downs. Let’s continue with UPS:
1. Almost no idea. (Everyday is an initial invitation for an adventure.)
As you gradually immerse into freelancing or doing things on your own you will see how crazy your portfolio will become. It will be an ultimate adventure. Let me give you an example. You will do morning sessions with big execs, afternoon sessions with teenagers who do local and international competitions, evenings with Olympic Gold medalists. You will get an incredible palette of offers and projects. You will see people that usually it is impossible to see. You go places. You will do awesome projects. Once I did a session with a football player in the coffee-shop and people came for autographs. Or I do sessions with person from Space industry and I feel like NASA is in my balcony. Part of working with great people is you hear great stories. What else does a writer need?
2. You are the one to decide. You get to say your NO. You decide on the project. You decide on who to work with and this gives you much more equilibrium.
3. You need your own cave and zone if you are a creative person. I remember when I worked for big telecom company the best part of the day for me was to write my blogs. My manager was a kind person but not everyone is like that. If you have a passion, working for yourself opens the buffer zone and gives you the buffer cash for your passion or (-ing).
4. You will much happier. Sometimes you make crazy amount of money. (Due to extreme offers or fancy people) but usually you are just fine with what you make. It keeps you afloat and you can do the things that you were meant to do. Sometimes you do not eat. Sometime you eat a lot. But most of the time your soul is much satisfied with what you do.
Things I write in here, may not or do not apply to everyone.
But, I also know that many people will relate to it.
Wish you all a great week!
