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Home > Articles > Getting Started > FINDING MOTIVATION

My friend Deanna was talking about going to college to earn a degree in Human Services. She has always been a “supporter” of all those less fortunate. She feels a career in this field would easily meet her career expectations allowing her to help children in need. Deanna, like I am, is about to be out of a job in a few months and is currently assessing her skills and strengths. Deanna knows she is the person everyone goes to when they need someone to talk to. She has a knack for getting children to talk to her when the do not want to talk to anyone else. Her career goal is a perfect fit, except for the fact that Deanna sometimes becomes too involved in the problems of other people. Deanna knows she will only be happy when she can save us all, she also knows she can handle it. She knows what she would have to deal with. A big concern for those of us who know her is that she will bring it home with her every night.

This is a big concern for me in looking into freelance work.

I will be at home…all the time. My work is at home with me whether I like it or not. Is this something I can do? Will I be able to focus, or will I feel the need to refill the dog’s water bowls 20 times a day? What if I stay home and all I want to do is play solitaire? That probably won’t pay the bills ( although I do hear there may be some money to be made in internet solitaire tournaments). I am used to working with a number of people, having a clear idea of what my role is. As a manager I was in charge of 20 people and their day to day business. As a trainer, I was in charge of training and project work. These roles were varied and interesting, yet those around me were working with me towards a common goal. To please our customer. In freelancing of course my goal will be to please the customer, but all of the pleasing is on me, I don’t get to delegate that to some one else.

I have been thinking a lot about what I need to remain focused on not just work, but doing really good work. I need some competition. We all know that freelance writing is highly competitive, however how do I know who’s getting the work I want? There are some bulletin boards and chats out there for professional writers. I have checked out a few of these boards. The good news is that there seems to be a lot of support of one another in the freelance community that goes along with the stiff competition. Everyone has been there or done what you are setting out to do, and are more than willing to offer some advice on what you should try. The ideas of other freelancers offer infinite possibilities on how to run your own freelance career.

This online community seems wonderful, but I think I am also going to need the real thing, flesh and blood, living breathing human beings on occasion. So, being new to the freelance world, where can I go to meet people that do what I do? The exciting news is that while helping Deanna with looking at some local schools, I found a university offering a Professional Writing Bachelors program. I have less than a few semesters to finish my degree in communications, my company will pay for at least one semester of school until I am displaced and this program will give me some contact with real live people who have done freelance work in the real world or like me, are hoping to do freelance and are looking for a good place to start. It is perfect! The healthy competition of a campus environment, along with living, breathing classmates! Of course, for now this returning to college will not pay any bills either, so I need a plan on how to do school and work.

I really do not have a plan yet. I am reenrolled in school, I am really excited about the possible internship I will get to do with the Professional Writing program and the opportunity to get out and make contact with people who will need my professional writing skills, but I need to at least help my husband with the bills. Certainly work in freelance roles will be my first order of business; I will then probably look for some part time positions that head me in the right direction. It is important to think about who will need a person to do writing for them. For example, web designers, training centers, marketing and advertising agencies. Then I need to consider what it is I would like to write about. Animals? Antiques? Banking? Business? Management? Any part time job I take will give me some competition to do the job well, contact with living, breathing coworkers and will help to pay the bills.

This still leaves me with my last important goal in keeping myself motivated. I have to be interested and excited by what I am writing about. I see my biggest motivator as being able to write what I know about, what I am interested in and what I find creatively stimulating. Does this mean I won’t take jobs that do not fit into these categories? No, it means that I will probably take some of those jobs along with all the other freelancers because those jobs will help pay for the house and the car, not to mention the student loan. However, the jobs will not seem so daunting when coupled with other writing projects that are important to me. I do a good job of making my own work, and I intend to do this with writing too. I am going to write because I love to write, and find venues that may be interested in using what I have written instead of simply writing what someone else wants me to write. This will meet my need of staying interested and will satisfy my goal for this new career path which is to feed my creative side along with my hunger for raging success.

As for Deanna, I hope she recognizes the need in the Human Services field for people like her who are compassionate and dedicated, and that she recognizes her ability to be successful on whatever career path she takes. She will bring her work home with her, but she will love her work, she will be fulfilled helping other people who would not have been helped had she not chosen the difficult road of changing careers when faced with the chance to do so. She will be proud in the knowledge that she took the more unfamiliar path and is successful on that path. She will be happy knowing that a child was helped because she was brave enough to take that step towards a new life. As for me, I am already proud of the steps I have taken to work in the freelance world. I am proud that I am ready to complete that degree which had I continued in my current job, I would have felt I never needed. I am fulfilled knowing that I can diversify my life enough to stay motivated, and to do my best work for every client I work with. I am fulfilled knowing that my creativity which always brings forth my best work will be massaged in school, nurtured and developed, until at last, I can say with confidence, “I am a professional writer.” The piece of paper from the university will not make me a professional however. Being my own motivation, creating my own goals and my ultimate success in the field I love will.

Jennifer Ravegum

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Jennifer Ravegum has been working for the last five years as a banking manager and corporate trainer for customer service. The majority of her writing includes promotional and educational works geared towards employee service and performance. In her freelance writing career she is focused on writing promotional and instructional materials as well as non-fictional prose. Jennifer can be contacted at JenRav@msn.com

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