When starting something new or trying something you’ve never done before, it’s not unusual to initially lack confidence or be cautious about what you can achieve.
Even the most confident and successful freelancers were newbies once, and no doubt weren’t 100% confident in everything, but they took action anyway.
The good news is that even if you’re not self-confident now, you can build it along the way.
With this in mind, here are some tips to help you build confidence as a freelancer.
1. Take action and step outside of your comfort zone
You won’t be surprised to hear that the antidote to most things is taking action.
And when it comes to the business tasks you currently lack confidence in, taking action is key, even if it means stepping outside your comfort zone (or just tiptoeing for now).
In addition, you should find that the more you perform tasks or do things you’re hesitant about, the more confident you’ll become, whether that’s cold calling, making sales calls, or writing proposals and offering solutions to your clients. Practice makes the master!
Often, when you take steps to do the thing you think you can’t or are wary of doing, you soon realize there’s nothing to worry about. You just needed to take that first step.
While it might seem unlikely right now, you might even come to love the very thing you were worried about and lacked confidence in! But you won’t know until you try.
2. Use the right tools and get paid on time
There’s an old proverb that says, ‘A poor craftsman always blames his tools’.
And while that may hold true to some degree, we can help improve our output, increase our confidence, and stay ahead of the curve by using the right ones.
Having good, reliable business tools helps businesses run with ease, and the time-saving element can even boost profit margins.
Take invoicing, for example; you want to be confident that you can send your invoices out on time, send reminders when needed, and have a range of payment gateways to choose from so clients can pay you online quickly with 1-click.
That’s where Invoice Ninja comes in. Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, fast online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs that you can customize with your logo and brand colors.
Because what better way is there to build confidence than to get paid for your work!
Try Invoice Ninja for free here.
3. Set small but achievable goals
Instead of going all out for a massive win with your business goals, set small but achievable goals that contribute to the bigger picture. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
For each smaller goal, ask yourself: What am I looking to achieve here? What is the overall outcome? Does it align with my bigger-picture goal? Another useful exercise is to visualize yourself achieving your goals, as it will help put you in the right frame of mind for success.
If you are consistent and stick to your path, you’ll be able to cover a lot of ground in a less stressful way than you would if you tackle a big, scary goal all at once.
Reaching each mini-goal will keep you on track and also boost your confidence.
Before you know it, your bite-sized chunk methodology will lead you to the big win, with a lot more confidence to boot!
4. Curate positive feedback and request it
Keep a file of all the positive feedback you receive, including compliments, client testimonials, case studies, and referrals, and review it on a regular basis.
This not only helps fend off any potential bouts of impostor syndrome, but you’ll also be able to better track your progress and know with confidence that you are capable of completing challenging tasks and delivering great results to your clients, which might all have seemed like a pipe dream before you started freelancing.
Make it a habit to ask for feedback from clients and colleagues. You can do this at the end of a client project or during the project’s duration. It’s a great way to gauge your progress and highlight areas where you need improvement.
As the saying goes, ‘Feedback is the breakfast of champions!’.
5. Cultivate a growth mindset and banish limiting beliefs
A growth mindset is essential when freelancing, as it helps you avoid getting stuck in a freelance rut. For example, if business is slow or you no longer enjoy what you do, and can’t see a way out of your current predicament.
A growth mindset, as the name suggests, means you are always moving forward, learning and expanding your knowledge. You reframe client rejections as learning opportunities and slow periods as excellent times to practice self-care and rejuvenate or refresh your skills.
With this winning mindset, there’s always room for growth, and you continually evolve and invest in yourself and your skills. This can be achieved through courses and upskilling, attending educational networking events, or developing solutions and products to assist your clients.
A positive growth mindset will go a long way toward developing and boosting your confidence.
Lacking confidence or feeling you aren’t good enough is a limiting belief that does not serve you.
Clients aren’t looking for sublime perfection; they are looking for authenticity and honesty, a job well done and a safe pair of reliable hands.
Confidence plus consistency equals happy clients.
You’ve got this!
