I Am (Officially) A Freelancer

Today I had my first kickoff meeting to start my new project as a freelancer. I am getting paid and everything. It is exciting, and a bit scary, but definitely something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. When times got hard at The Iron Yard, and I wanted to give up, I would think about how someday I would be able to work for myself. And really…what better job security can you ask for.

As I sit here in a dark coffee shop, laptop open about to crank out some code, I think that part of that little dream of mine has come true. There were many many days that I sat in an office cube thinking, I wish I could just work from home, cause I knew that I would get so much more done. Now, at least for now, I have that very chance. I couldn’t be more grateful.

I won’t lie and say that I am not scared. I am, I want to make sure that I not only fulfill my dev duties, but that I handle the whole process professionally. I have to keep reminding myself that I trained very hard to one day get here, and now that day is here. I want to do well, I want to grow, I want to learn.

Mostly, I want to draw a line in the sand and say that from here on out I am a different kind of worker. I no longer plan to be just an employee. I want to be invested in the end result. I want to bring my whole self to work. I want to be challenged to grow beyond myself. In the past I got paid only for what I had already done. Now I am ready to do new and exciting stuff, even if it is scary. I would rather be a little scared because there is something new to tackle, than a little bored cause I have done all this before.

Above all else, I want to believe in myself. That I am greater than even I know. That I am capable to things that I couldn’t imagine before. I think that is the most important part.