It may seem like false logic, but often being faced with a huge number of possibilities can actually grind your momentum to a halt as you panic over which choices are correct, which direction is best or which decision will have the best long term outcome.

 

Freelance writers are at particular risk of falling into this trap. We have carte blanche when it comes to deciding what to write about. Most non-writers will ask me "How do you find things to write about?" Whereas other writers will sympathise with the fact that it is often not finding things to write about that is the challenge, but simply focusing on one particular topic, article or project and seeing it through to completion.

 

Similarly, as you become more successful you may have to make choices over which jobs to take and which to turn down, and as a freelancer there are few things that make me more nervous than turning away work. 

 

So, in the face of becoming overwhelmed with opportunities, how do you keep moving forward?  I keep two post it notes on my pin board above my writing desk.  One has three figures on it:  my goal annual income, my ideal minimum hourly rate, and a running total of what I have made so far this month.  These figures make it easy to see which jobs I should take or let pass me by based on financial logic.  The second post it note has a few short sentences about the kind of writer I want to be.  A simple mission statement that would serve as my ideal bio.  While money makes my world go round, or at least keeps a roof over my head and food in my refrigerator, I try never to lose sight of the fact that I am a creative person, doing a job that I am passionate about, and it is important to me that I take on work that fulfills that part of my nature.

It is a constant balancing act, and there are several factors that come into play when deciding which jobs to take and what topics to write about, but at the end of the day the most important decision that you can make is to act rather than worry.  We all make bad decisions and wrong choices.  Every writer has the proverbial "one that got away". It's part of life.  But a lack of action is almost always worse than the wrong action. Think about things too long and you may miss the boat altogether!