Stop making these mistakes in your Freelancing Career:

From Drowning in Failures to Rising Back from Its Ashes

Story Time.

Six years ago, I was deeply immersed in learning everything I could put my hands on— writing, marketing, content creation, designing, and social media strategies.

Harsh truth: I implemented almost none of it.

Every time I tried, I hit a roadblock.

Failures visited me every now and then.

(Just like those annoying relatives.)

And, instead of pushing through, I would give up easily.

Failure felt heavy like a 50 kg dumbbell, and each setback sucked away my confidence.

(pretty much like those annoying mosquitoes at night).

I fell into a cycle of binge-watching Netflix, neglecting my health, and losing all motivation.

(I still believe K-dramas saved me and they still comfort me.)

Just survived like a zombie—with the mindset to flow where life takes me to.

Only to realize, that life didn’t take me anywhere.

I was left far behind while everyone boarded their cars, ships, trains, and flights and flew away leaving me stagnant on a faraway Island.

No! This island was not cozy or refreshing. It was dark and melancholic.

Anyway—

I stopped caring about how I looked, felt, or even lived.

I became a super lazy, insecure version of myself, drowning in low self-esteem.

But something inside me refused to let that be the end of my story.

No! This can’t be the end…

I decided it was time for a change, even if it meant starting small.

Here’s how I’m rising back from the ashes like a Phoenix.

Starting with healthy mornings: Improving my breakfast to set a positive tone for the day.

TRYING to Fix my sleep schedule: Breaking free from the late-night Netflix marathons and prioritizing better sleep habits.

(not yet completely there—I work late at night. So…trying my best)

Turning entertainment into education: Cutting down on mindless shows and using that time to learn and implement strategies.

Building a better network: Surrounding myself with people who inspire, motivate, and push me to grow. You are who you surround yourself with.

It's amazing how much your circle impacts your mindset.

Documenting my journey: Sharing my wins, losses, and everything in between on Twitter.

It’s been a powerful way to stay accountable and connect with like-minded individuals.

These small but consistent changes are slowly making me believe I can do wonders if I put my mind to it.

I’m learning that healing and growth aren’t linear. Sometimes, it’s about taking just one step forward, even if it's a tiny one.

Now these were my personal mindset shifts, but there are other aspects too that worked for me.

Though I was consuming content all these years, I didn’t actually put consistent efforts into implementing them.

While learning for me comes very quickly and easily, finding a client is still a challenge.

However, I did realize my mistakes and saw a drastic change with consistent efforts since September 2024.

That is when I started learning copywriting again

Worked for 3 beta clients,

worked as a ghostwriter in a new start-up agency,

worked as a logo/brand designer for a home-based bakery business

worked as a wedding e-card illustrator.

Finished my 1st lead magnet and started an email newsletter.

Got done with my website (although it's not in the right place yet.)

Almost done with my 2nd lead magnet (I need to edit it.)

Perhaps I have yet to promote myself well enough, get back to my consistency of showing up, and ensure that I don't fail again.

Recently I read the book “Show Your Work.” —by Austin Kleon.

I have read his previous book too “Steal Like an Artist.”

And everyone trying to build a creative business must read these books.

Now, being a writer and an artist (who loves to paint and do digital illustrations.) I have a knack for starting my freelancing business around my creativity and growing as a creative person.

And, these two books really gave me a perspective that I always knew perhaps, there wasn't that strong push to help me actually understand that.

The fact that I could have done better all these years and would have made it better by now really makes me drown in the ocean of despair and regret.

Perhaps, if I look back I actually didn't waste any time.

I kept on consuming content and learned where I fit in, and what could be my niche.

Let’s just say it was a phase where I was experimenting, failing, and exploring things.

Could I become a writer? A designer? or a marketer?

While I am still a newbie, I feel that I have a rough idea about

How social media works,

How creators are making money,

How one is using social media to actually give them the freedom to start a new career which will give them the freedom they wish to have.

So here are some lessons I wish to share from my own journey today.

1. Consume content but make sure to put it into action immediately.

Whenever I read a book, learn a skill, or watch a course I assume I have learned things. Perhaps, after a week when I try to put those learnings into action, I feel fear that I am not yet good enough. Maybe I should watch another course and re-learn things again.

The consistency should not always be with the learnings but also should be with your actions

Put that learning into use before letting that doubt monster take over you.

Once you try and fail and re-try start taking note of things that worked and what didn't work for you.

Keep at that one skill till you master it and then you can expand your skill sets or explore more.

2. Build a strong portfolio, but don’t waste much time overthinking it.

I have worked as a writer, a designer, and an artist. But when it comes down to making my portfolio stand out or even promoting my work out there I feel shy and underconfident.

I know my work may not be the best, but my work deserves a chance to be seen.

Perhaps, every time I try to show my work, thoughts like—” I am not ready yet, I am not good enough, I will be judged.” takes over me.

This cost me 6 years of failures and constant self-doubts.

In the past 2 months, I just overthought about my brand identity, colors, logo, and fonts to use rather than making sure to get back to posting content.

I lost the momentum and even while I have been working at the back end I still feel I am losing a lot of opportunities and time to learn things faster.

3. Networking.

I am good at networking, but not good at keeping up with consistency.

You must use your networking skills at your best disposal and grow your skills as well as your chances of landing opportunities.

I feel networking is the best way to collaborate. You end up getting help too and make really great connections while slowly you might end up making a tribe of your own.

This tribe helps you stay motivated and check on you when they see you are not being consistent.

I love to see how my connections dm me to know how am I doing and if I am in need of any help because I sometimes lose my focus and lose track of being consistent.

4. Criticism is an essential part of growth.

The earlier you fail and get embarrassed the earlier you take action to re-learn, grow, and get perfect.

This is easier said than done, I know but it really is important to take criticism healthily and use it as a means to go back and do things right.

You never know how those different critics or perspectives might end up making you even better at your skills or giving you an idea that you never thought of.

Use critics as a way to re-learn and learn to filter out good and bad critics along the way too.

5. Document your journey to keep track.

I cannot make this more bold and loud enough. I regret big time for not documenting my progress and process enough all these years.

The stories about your progress, process, failures, and how you overcame setbacks are the ones that your audience needs to feel relatable to.

These are real gems of your journey. It helps create your brand content too.

So make sure to document your journey and it will help you to keep track of what's working and what's not working for you.

I hope you learned something from my journey and will get a rough idea how to go about with your journey…

If you still haven't read my ebook “How I Became a Better Copywriter and Got Faster Results by Beating Procrastination.” then make sure to read it. You can download it from here

If you enjoy my writing, then visit my recent post on Medium here.

My portfolio is here