9.

Develop a New Habit

It's time for you to develop a new habit, and that habit is called “selling yourself.” I am well aware that you probably don't want to be a freelancer. For most people, the thought of having to constantly sell themselves to strangers for the rest of their lives is abhorrent. “If I'd wanted to learn to freelance, constantly selling myself, I would have gone to the College of Sales.” But the truth is, whatever you do, you're in sales. You don't have to like it; you just have to do it. If you have a dog, you have to pick up after the dog. Sales is like the “picking up” part that lets you enjoy the dog.

If I said to you, “Guess what? Tonight, when you get home, you'll get to brush your teeth! Doesn't that sound like fun?!” You'd reply, “Fun? Are you crazy? That's not fun! It's just a habit.” Well, freelancing and selling yourself are habits, too. And the more you do them, the better you'll get.

Look, I know the advice I'm giving you won't go down easy. And I realize that a lot of what you'll read in this book runs counter to conventional wisdom. Most likely, you're at what I call a “resistance point.” I'm telling you something, and you're saying, “Whoa, wait a minute! That can't be right. I can't—or won't—do that!” But I've done this work for many years and with great success. You may not believe in or want to do the things I suggest, but I promise that they work.