Face Your Fears

Tim Ferriss is one of the most well known fellows in the Angel Investment slash Podcast slash Consultant slash Guru space.

And his one exercise can help you figure out when, and if, you should take the leap, take the risk, and run with it.

Enter: Fear-Setting. The full exercise is here, and it is worth doing.

When I worked a full time job alongside freelancing part time, one question always loomed over my head. Whether switching to freelancing full time was the better outcome for me.

• What if the income is not stable?
• What if I can’t get new clients or work?
• What if I can’t get hired again in a timely manner?
• My resume will be destroyed, will I be unhirable forever?
• I’ll be stuck on a platform alone without a network or people to talk to?
• How will I manage work life balance working without bounds?
• How will I get paid safely and on time, given Pakistan’s horrible state of foreign remittance support?

All existential dreads anyone would have in a corpo job.

I did the exercise, and the gist of it is this. Every concern above was solvable, either by the extra income I would be making, or by actions I could take to set the fear free.

Freelancing isn’t secure? Having 4x the income is the best job security. Your bank account is your job security now.

Can’t find new clients? It turns out it is easier to find new clients than a new job for most roles, at higher pay and better terms.

Income not stable? I figured out how to push fixed price long term retainers.

Resume no longer relevant? I made a personal website with a portfolio of clients and case studies.

How will I manage work life balance? 2 years in, I haven’t worked a single weekend. I am actually working less than I did at my job. Turns out working with small teams, you and your time are valued far more than at a corpo with 100+ employees.

Will I receive payments safely? To this day, I can’t say 100% for sure that freelancers will have a stable payment source. Wise got killed this year, Payoneer is probably next in line. But what I know for sure is that 2 years into freelancing, I can just move to UAE and open an account there to bypass the issue.

And it is not just me. I heard 4,000+ businesses registered or moved to UAE this year alone.

At the end of it, if you are fearful of a decision you need to make: document it, debate it, equate it, and resolve it.

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.

Henry Ford.

With or without my help – I wish you the best.

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