Back when I started freelancing, I was cautious.  I wasn’t sure how to be a successful freelancer.

“If this doesn’t work out,” I told myself, “then I’ll just drop it.” I held on to my day job, even when I was crying on my commute.

In 2015, I had a moment of bravery — triggered by my miscarriage — that pushed me to take a leap of faith. I quit my job so that I could focus on my freelancing full time. 

But once the adrenaline was gone, so was my resolve. I kept my options open. “If this doesn’t work out,” I reassured myself, “I can get another job.” I looked for ways out. I was firmly committed to my Plan B. 

My mentor, Myron Golden, says there’s an important difference between choosing and deciding. 

When you choose — and I’m paraphrasing, here — there are two options, and you choose between them. When you decide, you cut off all your other opportunities, commit to one thing, and go all in. 

I chose to quit the “stable” 9-5 and embrace freelancing in a heated moment, but the fear was still there, filling my head, letting me tell myself stories.

And then, something happened. I was at home, doing what I wanted to do. I had a taste of the freedom that freelancing gave me, and I wanted more. The moment that I decided I was all in on this freelancing thing, the moment I tossed the Plan B out the window — that was the moment that everything really changed. 

I was all in on freelancing, which meant that I had a new fire to fuel me. I knew I would never go back to working for someone else. I would never, ever work for someone else’s dream. 

That decision changed the way I communicated and engaged with people. Potential clients could feel it — and they responded to it. Even better, I could feel it, and it made all the work so much easier. I realized this is how to be a successful freelancer — my freelancing business exploded, and it felt amazing.

The first time I hired a business coach, it was a decision. I literally spent money I didn’t have, so there was no Plan B. If I didn’t make my business work, I’d spend the rest of my life in debt. 

That kind of determination is powerful.

I don’t believe in Plan B — and if you know me and my super-planner personality, you know that I don’t say that lightly. 

I definitely don’t mean that you shouldn’t plan ahead. I definitely don’t mean that you should have systems and redundancies in place. But if you want to know how to be a successful freelancer, the thing is — when you make a decision, MAKE A DECISION. Go all in, and don’t allow yourself to fail.

If you face your life this way — with the belief that there is no Plan B, then Plan A HAS to work. Failure isn’t an option. You have to give it — whatever “it” is —  your all and make it be successful. 

Does that mean you’ll never make a mistake and that everything will always work out exactly the way you want it to?

Um, no. That would be magic, and we don’t believe in magic. 

We believe in work — focused work that moves you closer to a specific result. And when you do that, even the things that don’t turn out exactly the way you wanted them to, work out exactly they way they’re supposed to. You learn. You grow. You apply the lesson forward.

There is no Plan B, Mama. So let’s ROCK Plan A. 

P.S. Need help figuring out what Plan A looks like? We got you, Mama. The BRAND-SPANKING-NEW Free Mama Guide is EXACTLY the resource you need. It’s hot off the presses, and it is PACKED with everything you need to dig into freelancing. 

P.P.S. If you are scrambling to find freelance clients, be sure to watch Tuesday’s episode of FreeMamaTV, where I dive deep into getting clients from freelance job sites!