The 1% Difference: What is the Trajectory of Your Freelancing Career?

Your one percent trajectory can make or break your freelancing career.

If you improve yourself by one percent every day, you’ll be 37x times better in a year. One percent multiplied by 365 days equals one hell of an improvement. Now imagine being 37x better at writing, coding, designing, sales, or whatever freelancing services you’re offering.

How much financial growth do you think will you achieve?

How much free time do you think will you have because you can finish your work quicker? Or perhaps, how much career growth will you experience because you become the go-to guy of the company you’re working with?

The mere thought of it excites you, doesn’t it?

All because you grew by 1% — Every. Single. Day.

I hope that writing this post will cast your attention to something seemingly menial and inconsequential yet yields mindblowing results — your 1% trajectory.

Put a premium on habits

You can’t remove habits from the equation if you opt to pursue the daily 1% growth lifestyle. Habits, after all, is one of its central messages.

Think about something menial you can do to achieve your long term goals as a freelancer. For example, if you want a huge client base, send direct messages daily to 1 to 2 people from your Linkedin network. Ask about how they are and provide value. Sending the message will only take you less than three minutes.

Something as simple as this would bring you meaningful results because you’d have engaged 730 prospects at the end of the year if you reached out to two people daily. If you fine-tune your message, you are bound to close more contracts and establish a tremendous client base.

Tiny habits, when carefully maintained, compound over time. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear mentions that habits are considered as the compound interest of self-improvement. Think of habits like invested money that multiplies through compound interest. The effects and results of habits multiply as you repeat them.

Patience is key

Let’s face it: A 1% growth isn’t sexy. Not many people have the patience for it since its results aren’t immediately visible.

Most people want instant gratification. If an action doesn’t bring immediate rewards, then most people are turned off from taking action.

That’s why you need patience. Your one percent growth is the bitter pill you need to swallow to perform at an elite level. You need to brace yourself and stay committed with your 1% trajectory.

It works both ways

So far, we’ve talked about the positive impact you’ll experience by living the positive 1% trajectory. It’d be great to end with this; sadly, that’s just not how this works.

If you aren’t careful, your trajectory could point downwards. Instead of experiencing massive growth through positive habits, you’ll rot, instead.

Pay attention to the content you’re regularly consuming. After all, the articles you read and the videos you watch heavily impact your direction.

Watch meaningful, self-help videos. Read about the industry techniques freelancers in your space are using. Watch videos about strategies and tips that will grow your career. All these will give you the 1% growth you’re looking for, perhaps even more.

On the flip side of the coin, if you binge-watch or spend countless hours playing video games, you’ll form negative habits — those that lead you to a negative 1% trajectory. As you can probably imagine, if you stay consistent with being irresponsible and passive about your freelancing career, you’ll be 37x worse at the end of the year.

Can you imagine how debilitating that can be? You’ll struggle with closing more contracts because you aren’t skilled enough. You’ll lack the motivation and the drive to continue working. Or worse, you’ll quit freelancing.

Conclusion

Don't procrastinate, start your daily 1% growth today. You can join one of Fiverr's courses, read 1 - 2 pages of your favorite book, do five push-ups, etc. Remember, you're only pushing for 1% growth so your tasks shouldn't be over the top. Just do something simple, yet will ultimately lead you to achieve your goals.

Make no mistake, what you choose to do every day has a significant impact on your journey as a freelancer.

You might not always see the effects of your daily actions, but if you wait long enough, you’ll see its astounding results -- whether good or bad. Make sure you experience the former. Be mindful of your 1% trajectory.