Defining Freelance Success

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post called “Acknowledging Success” wherein I talked about the fact that Tamara and I were really starting to reap the rewards of our hard work. We’re getting more business, and we’re getting higher-paying business, too. We feel pretty good about all of this, as we’ve put in a lot of effort to reach this point; and I don’t think either one of us has even the slightest qualm about referring to ourselves “professionals” today. (Apparently we had to prove it to ourselves.)

But that brought into question the definition of success. While some people define their success by the size of their paychecks, that’s not the case with us. On more than one occasion, we have turned down a well-paying gig that we were perfectly capable of doing. For some reason, however, that particular job didn’t work for us.

• Maybe we felt like the topic was something we couldn’t condone.
• Maybe doing the project would take too much time away from our families.
• Maybe we just had a bad feeling about the prospective employer.

It occurs to me that this is what makes us successful. Sure, paydays are a lot nicer these days than they used to be, and it’s wonderful to have enough money to invest back into the business; but that’s such a small part of it all. Being able to stick to our principles is not only nifty, but it also creates such a sense of satisfaction.

For us, the biggest sign of success has been our own ability to say “yes” and “no.” In our previous lives, we had to simply do the projects that were handed to us by our superiors. Making the choices for ourselves seems to be where the “free” part comes into “freelancing.”

We would love to hear from other freelancers. Just because this is how we define our own success doesn’t mean that you all don’t have a thousand other ways. Like I said, some folks base it on money (and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that). Others might base it on how many hours a week they work. (For some, it might be about how many they get to work, and for others it might be about how few they have to work!)

What’s your yardstick for success? Are you there yet? Are you getting close? What would it take to get you there?