When things feel impossible, remember this...

Be bigger than your emotions.

All work causes stress.

That’s why employers come up with multiple systems to help you handle it.

When you get hired, you get trained on how to do your tasks.

You have a specific framework that tells you what’s expected of you—like showing up every morning, for example.

When things go south, you can complain to your boss or talk to HR.

You can take some vacation days.

You can demand that you get help with your workload, get the help, and still be paid the same salary.

In certain industries, you can eat a free fruit in the office kitchen, play table tennis with colleagues or get a free massage every Thursday.

Freelancers don’t have that. One-person businesses of any kind don’t have any of that.

And it’s stressful, alright.

So stressful that sometimes goals feel unachievable, problems seem unsolvable, and the whole idea of earning well and living well feels impossible.

That’s when you need to remember this: one of the most important skills you need to develop as the owner of a one-person business is emotional management.

In short, don’t let emotions run you.

I’m in a few social media groups for writers and freelancers, and I keep seeing questions like, “How do I get motivated to write?”

People also ask how to find the time, how to find the energy, how to get their loved ones to support them, what to write about, and more questions that are really one question:

How to beat emotions and show up every day when I’m not sure it’s going to work?

We’ve all felt that. Here’s what I do:

• I list what I feel. Am I impatient? Do I feel inadequate? Irritated? Naming your emotions, is half the problem solved.

• I write why I feel it. Is it really an unsolvable problem, or do I just wish I didn’t have to solve it? Do I really not know the “how,” or am I too lazy to really try what I know? Is the client really a jerk, or do I just lack the systems in place to handle complaints?

• I write what to do about it. I create plans, structures, processes, template messages, and whatever else I might need that could help me deal with the problem in a rational way.

“Bad” emotions just show you what you need to focus on. No need to push them down, no need to follow them blindly.

Be bigger than your bad emotions, go out there, and do what you need to do to make this work. Just like you would if you were an employee.

You already know what to do.

I can tell you more about the how, sure, but you can also find the information you need in so many ways.

And if you’re confused about contradicting advice, I’d be happy to help.

But whatever you do, don’t give up because it’s difficult. That’s the stupidest reason to give up.

Don’t start, then stop, then start again. That’s just a waste of time.

You can do this.

If I can, you can.

If thousands of others can, you can.

Emotional management.

Badass resilience.

And just doing what you know you have to do, motivation or no motivation.

That’s the way to success.

Sending you strength & belief that you have all the solutions,

Maya