I roll my eyes whenever a new freelancer pops up on my feeds.
They typically fall into a combination of any of the following three camps:
- The HUSTLE BRO: The guy who talks about eating, sleeping, and drinking freelancing and sales and GETTING IT DONE and whatever else cringe takes he has about how work is his life.
- The “Stacking Cash” Guy: This freelancer constantly talks about how much money he makes. This one is funny because I can usually tell by his specific choice of language how little money he actually makes, but he wants to be viewed as an authority based on dollar signs.
- The Traveler: The bro that is constantly selling the lifestyle of seeing beautiful sights in the world and working out of penthouse hotel rooms with the sun shining through the window. Usually talks about only working 2 hours a day and LIVING LIFE.
A lot of these guys are single, childless, in their early 20s, wear short-sleeve button-up casual shirts and have haircuts like the tops of broccoli.
And if that’s the lifestyle you’re going for, don’t let me get in the way.
But there’s a much bigger (and in my view, better) reason to be a freelancer.
This week is a perfect example of it.
Being a present Dad
Yesterday, my 9-year old son had a wicked little stomach bug.
He had to stay home from school.
My wife was frustrated by this, because Tuesdays are her day to take my daughter and go to her parents’ house to hang out with them, help them with their house, etc.
When my son puked, I could see in her eyes that she figured she wasn’t going.
I walked over, put my hands on her shoulders, and said, “Go. I can handle him.”
And I did.
My boy parked on the couch with a bucket and some saltine crackers. He watched movies all morning. I sat in my office and worked with the door open in case he needed anything, and I just took regular breaks to go check on him, get him more water, etc.
I could be there for my family and keep the burden light… without sacrificing any of my work.
Tomorrow, my boy (now recovered) has a field trip with his class to our state capital. He’s very excited.
He asked my wife to be one of the chaperones, which she absolutely wanted to do.
I said, “Go. I’ll watch our daughter.”
While they are having a great field trip, I’m going to take the morning off and spend time with my daughter at home. After lunch, she’ll go down for a nap, and I’ll still be able to get maybe 2-2.5 hours of work done.
If I plan accordingly, that will be plenty of time.
I get to be the Dad I never had
Parenting is always an exercise in analyzing your childhood.
You look at what you lacked, and you try to fix that for your kids.
One of those, for me, was a lack of father.
My dad was there. He existed. My parents aren’t divorced or anything.
But my father has bipolar disorder. And in the 90s, they didn’t know what to do with that, other than fumble around with different antidepressants.
While my classmates went hunting with their dads, mine was in bed.
While my classmates had stories of what they did with their dads over the weekend, I had none. Mine was in bed.
While my classmates had their dad’s chaperone field trips and share memories with them, mine was in bed.
My kids want time with me. Real time. Quality time.
As a freelancer, I have the flexibility and the freedom to rearrange my schedule or my routine so that I can give them that quality time they crave – without sacrificing any of my work, money, or success.
In short, freelancing makes me a better father.
What would you use your freedom for?
Maybe you don’t have kids.
Maybe you DO want to travel.
Maybe you need to spend more time prioritizing your health.
Maybe you have loved ones you want to make memories with.
Whatever your motivation is, freelancing offers the ability to prioritize the things that matter to you.
Yes, the money is great. The lack of a dress code in my office is wonderful.
But it’s the freedom that matters most of all.