3 Simple Methods for Discovering Your Purpose
Posted August 11, 2009 in Inspiration, Productivity 15 Rockin' Comments »
Being an entrepreneur is in a lot of ways similar to being an explorer. We set out on a long journey, regularly pushing our minds and bodies, and often have little or no idea of where the road will eventually lead us.
As an entrepreneur, though, it’s important—critical, even—to at least know the next few steps of your journey. You might have no idea where you’ll be in 5 years, but you’d better have a good idea of what you’re doing in the next few months — if you don’t your productivity and motivation are almost guaranteed to plummet.
In fact, the stronger your sense of purpose, the more you believe in yourself and what you’re doing right now, the more motivated and hard-working you’ll be. Think about your own experiences — when have you worked the hardest: when you were apathetic and not sure of direction, or when you were certain that your current project would make a big difference?
It’s that sense of purpose that is the primary driving force behind freelancers, entrepreneurs, business people, athletes, and many others — and in this article, I’m going to outline 5 simple methods that you can use to help refine and strengthen your purpose, passion, and direction.
The Simple Truth About Success
Posted July 28, 2009 in How-To, Inspiration, Lifestyle 16 Rockin' Comments »
Success.
That elusive, intangible thing that we’re all searching for day after day, month after month, year after year.
What is success? How does one achieve success? How long does it take? Is it even possible?
Ten Tips To Stay Motivated — Even When You Really Don’t Feel Like Working
Posted July 27, 2009 in Inspiration, Lifestyle, Productivity 35 Rockin' Comments »
It’s a beautiful sunny day. The temperature is just right, and there’s a slight breeze blowing. You’d love to go outside and enjoy the sunshine, but you can’t. Once again, you’re stuck at your computer because you have to meet a deadline.
(Of course, you could take your laptop outside, but you’d still be chained to work and not really free to enjoy the outdoors.)
As a freelancer, you’ve probably experienced those times when you just don’t feel much like working. Personally, I know that there are times when staring at a computer monitor is absolutely the last thing that I really want to do.
It’s normal to lose your motivation for work from time to time, even if you totally love your job. Giving in to a lack of motivation, however, can lead to missed deadlines and lost clients. To run a successful freelance business, you have to stay motivated.
What’s a freelancer to do when there’s work to be done, but work is the last thing that he or she feels like doing?
Are You Undervaluing Your Freelancing Business?
Posted July 21, 2009 in Business, Inspiration, Productivity 25 Rockin' Comments »
Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?
Imagine that you were given the position of president of a big company. With your new responsibilities as the leader of a large company, would you change how you act?
Consider the following questions:
- As company president, would you change the way that you interact with others?
- As company president, would you be more careful with your time?
- As company president, would you be more mindful of how money was being spent?
Creativity Truths Every Freelancer Should Know
Posted July 13, 2009 in Inspiration 18 Rockin' Comments »
Creativity!
It’s the golden standard of freelancing — a holy grail of sorts. . .
We all think that we know what creativity is. It’s the beautiful logo, the smart web design, or the clever prose. Surely, those things are evidence of the creative process at work. But, there is something more to being creative.
What is Creativity?
Creativity is that rare combination of skill and innovation. It’s the ability to look at a blank wall or a dead end and see something else there — something much more meaningful.
Creative people aren’t stopped by obstacles. They don’t know the meaning of the words “it can’t be done.”
Freelancing Stories: When A Neighbor’s Tree Kills Your Power
Posted July 1, 2009 in Freelance Stories, Inspiration 25 Rockin' Comments »
We freelancers have to be resourceful. Just how resourceful, however, our clients may never realize.
The fact is that Murphy’s Law is alive and kicking in the freelance world — anything that can go wrong generally will go wrong.
You’ve experienced it. I’ve experienced it. In most cases, we persevere. We get the project turned in on time and meet or exceed our client’s expectations. Things usually work out well.
It’s how we’ve dealt with Murphy’s Law, however, that makes for some really funny freelancing stories.
Just for fun, I thought it would be interesting if we all shared our brushes with Murphy’s Law. Here are two funny stories of things that have gone wrong for me during freelance projects.
The Ten Types of Freelancers: Which One Are You?
Posted June 2, 2009 in Inspiration, Lifestyle 51 Rockin' Comments »
During my years of working online and interacting with other freelancers, I’ve noticed that most freelancers seem to fit into several personality types. Each type of freelancer seems to have a number of common character traits.
It can be fun and helpful to examine these freelancing personality types. Often times your freelancing personality type can show what makes you act the way you do as a freelancer.
So, what type of freelancer are you?
(This article is intended to take a lighthearted look at the various freelancing personality traits. It is based purely on my own impressions and not any kind of scientific study…)
12 Practical Ways To Become More Creative
Posted May 20, 2009 in How-To, Inspiration 19 Rockin' Comments »
Creativity is quickly becoming the next currency in the business and design world. There are millions of places to outsource non-creative work, and it’s only the truly creative people who are not afraid of being replaced or outdated.
Despite what many think, creativity is not decided at birth — and there are a few very simple and logical ways that you can become more creative simply by practicing and using certain methods.
Here are a few of those methods, along with some tools that can help boost your natural abilities. Put these to use and watch your work become more creative.
If You Could Have A Freelancing Super Power, What Would You Choose?
Posted May 13, 2009 in Inspiration 62 Rockin' Comments »
Have you had a tough week? For a change, let’s have some fun today!
You may have noticed all of the new movies coming out for the spring and summer featuring superheroes with extraordinary powers.
Let’s pretend, just for the sake of this post, that you could choose a single super power to use in your freelancing business. If you could make that choice, what imaginary super power would you choose?
Try searching "Getting Clients" or "Productivity"
FreelanceCommunity
Free Resource: Massive Web UI and Button Set
This is a free photoshop set provided by MediaLoot with hundreds of free buttons, boxes, and other useful web elements.5 Fresh and Useful jQuery Plugins Were Born in November 2009
In November 2009, 5 jQuery plugins were born that are new and useful for web designers. Read this post to learn more.How Well Do You Understand CSS Positioning?
The css position property seems easy to grasp, but it works a little differently than it appears on the surface.
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