How Being Self-Employed Has Given me More Freedom

Benefits of being a full-time writer I didn’t quite expect

My family still worries about what might happen if I stop making money from writing. They think I quit my high-paying Government job on an impulse and I hadn’t really considered the consequences.

Yesterday, a client read a story on Medium and asked me if I could write a 2000-word article for his company. The price he offered for that piece was equal to one month’s salary from my day job.

Can you imagine — spending a few hours on an article and working hard for 30 days to earn the SAME amount?

Yes, writing online is a booming, super lucrative business. And guess what, the wave is just getting started!

In this post, I’ve put together three amazing ways being self-employed has improved my life. If you’ve been wondering whether or not you should take the plunge, read on. Don’t miss out on the final section for an amazing FREE opportunity to make your dreams come true.

Can money buy happiness?

Yesterday, I went for brunch with my best friend, where I spent almost as much money as I spent in a whole month when I was in college.

We tried some exotic cocktails, enjoyed live music, and ate a lot of sushi. I firmly believe in saving/investing money, but I also believe once in a while, it’s important to spend money on experiences you’ve never had before — experiences only money can buy.

(On that note, the person who said money can’t buy happiness was probably extremely poor. Money CAN buy happiness, but ONLY money can’t. You need good health, a purpose, and healthy relationships on the side.)

Most of the time when strangers talk to me, they think I’m spending “baap ka paisa,” or my father’s money (because how can a person of my age enjoy such experiences earned with their own money?). But strangers don’t know that spending money on these luxuries isn’t a privilege I was born with, but something I created for myself.

Sure, my parents gave me a good education and they always encouraged my writing habit. But the life I’ve made for myself wouldn’t have happened without my hard work. In short, it wouldn’t have happened without the following:

Finding a craft (writing) and practicing it daily in public (posting it somewhere online).
Doing this for several years without expecting anything in return.
Reaping the benefits from my huge backlog of content when the time was right.

Adopting the “rich” mindset

Thanks to my Indian middle-class upbringing, I’ve learned to be careful with money. All my life, the only thing I spent money on in a beauty salon was doing my eyebrows.

But a few days ago, I did something I’ve never done before — I colored my hair for the FIRST time!

The process cost more than 50% of my monthly rent. When I saw the outrageous rate card, my first instinct was to turn around and go back home.

But I’d only just completed a writing assignment that paid really well. I had some crazy good projects on the horizon, and a future filled with possibilities.

Taking time off for self-care and spending ridiculous amounts of money on hair color were privileges I wasn’t born with, but I created them myself with hard work. I’d been writing every day for free for 6+ years. I worked on shit projects with terrible pay and struggled to please customers who were blind to my talent.

Now that life has finally taken an uphill turn, surely, I deserved some self-care, even though it was expensive!

If I don’t enjoy the fruit of my labor now, when will I enjoy it, right?

Live more, apologize less

Our society is designed to make people feel guilty for taking time out for themselves. Growing up, I observed my parents making a hundred justifications before they visited the salon for a simple haircut or buying something for themselves and not spend their entire savings on getting gifts for the family.

We can’t make up for how generations of conditioning have damaged the people before us. But the power lies with us — the youngsters of today — to pave the way for the generations of people to come after us.

Being self-employed has made me realize that we need to live more, apologize less. Here are some things I never apologize about (and you shouldn’t as well):

Not attaching my sense of self-worth to what others think of me.
Dreaming big, aiming high, and planning for world domination in my chosen field.
Prioritizing my mental health over things and people that drain me.
Wanting money — lots of it — and working for it.
Taking up space and designing a life just as I want to live it and not adhering to what society expects from me.

What other ways can a person live a life that’s true to their heart?

If you’re reading this, let this be a sign from the Universe to ONLY take up projects and socialize with people who make your heart soar.

Bonus: An amazing offer for you

It took me SIX years to make a full-time living from writing, but I was stumbling around in the dark, not knowing how to turn my passion into my profession.

Now, if you want to be a full-time highly paid writer, you don’t have to wait super long to make more money.

I’ve created a FREE course that will help you turn your passion for writing into a highly lucrative career. Join the course today!