Do you want to be financially free, or better yet, live beyond your means, but you constantly find yourself struggling financially?
Have you ever wondered why you work so hard but you just can’t seem to get ahead in your freelance writing career?
If you answered “yes” to either one of those questions, then read on, because this information could literally change your life.
Most people have a financial “ceiling” over their heads — one they can’t seem to break through no matter how hard they try.
They live between the bondage of two main fears:
- Fear of success
- Fear of failure
Sometimes people even experience both of these fears at the same time.
The inevitable truth is that if you deal with one of those two fears – or even both of them – you may not even be aware of it.
These beliefs live in your subconscious mind, and your subconscious is what rules you…your actions…your thoughts…your life.
These thoughts exist below your consciousness and this, my friends, could be the very core of what is holding you back as a freelance writer.
Your Subconscious and Your Money 
Learning more about the subconscious mind can help you grasp how important it is to have a positive money mindset as a freelance writer, especially if you want to work towards that six-figure mark.
Think about the reaction you have to a scary movie. You physically JUMP in your seat or gasp for air. Your breathing becomes staggered, and your heart may even beat a bit faster.
This is because the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what you visualize and what reality is. There is part of your mind that actually believed you were in that terrifying situation, and therefore, your body reacted appropriately.
Another important aspect to the subconscious mind is that the longer you have a belief, the harder it is to get rid of it. It’s as if your subconscious mind is an old man, set in his ways. This makes it harder to break free of these negative thoughts when you are so used to being controlled by them. They are so familiar to you that they become your “go to” way of thinking and you don’t even realize how these thoughts are negatively affecting your life.
Fixing Your Money Mindset
Once the mind accepts an idea, it cannot be removed unless a different idea replaces it.
For example, until a couple of decades ago, scientists believed the smallest particle that made up matter was a molecule. When scientists discovered atoms, smaller particles than molecules, this fact replaced the previous one and became the new belief.
We can take a “nod” from this principle and apply it to our minds. To shift your mindset in the right direction you can replace whatever belief is holding you back with another belief that will help you realize the potential you have to earn what you desire.
To start, let’s talk more about the two main issues that affect most people who struggle and can’t seem to make a lot of money: the fear of success and the fear of failure.
FEARS are, at their core, the foundation for a negative money mindset. And while many people who are struggling would deny they deal with this, for most people, it’s the fear of success that causes the problems.
Before I go on, if you haven’t picked up a free copy of my “Freelance Writing Fear Smashers” report, go do it now! This report will help you overcome your fears and doubts and allow you to move forward and achieve that freelance writing career you desire.
A fear of success is one of the main reasons people sabotage their chance for wealth, and it could be one of the main reasons you can’t break through your income ceiling as a freelance writer.
Don’t think you’re dealing with this type of fear? Here are a few signs you might be:
- You procrastinate. Usually when people deal with a fear of success, they don’t only procrastinate, but they are also scattered and find themselves working on so many things at once and they can never bring one to completion.
- You experience continual setbacks. Maybe you don’t take action in your life to advance yourself to make more money, or maybe you don’t take the right actions. Either way, you just can’t seem to plow forward.
- You’re not making an effort to move on and up. Are you updating your portfolio? Raising your rates? Looking for new and better clients? If not, this is YOU!
Most of us suffer from one of these “fear of success” symptoms at some point in our lives, but when it gets to the point 
that this fear cripples you and causes you to remain in a financially undesirable state, it’s time to get to the bottom of what’s really causing this.
So what are the possible sources of this fear of success?
- A fear that you will lose success. In a sense it’s “the higher we fly, the farther we fall.” This affects people who have been successful in their life and lost it all or have approached becoming very successful and for whatever reason, it all fell apart. Once you become aware of this, you can change your mindset to focus on learning from your failures, accepting them as opportunities to grow and therefore remaining optimistic about the future.
- You don’t have the support you need. I like to call this the 10-year-old-kid “cool” response. You’re 10 years old and you get all As on your report card. Suddenly you lose your “cool” friends. Well, it’s the same for adults. As you move up the ladder of success, you might find that some people are just not supportive of your success. In this situation, what you have to ask yourself is: do you want to sacrifice your dreams of becoming a successful freelance writer to make other people comfortable around you? Again, awareness is the first step. The second step is to surround yourself with friends who will applaud your accomplishments.
- You don’t think you deserve success. You work hard, you apply everything you know, but you have plateaued. You can’t break through that invisible ceiling to the next level of success. Your self-esteem is fractured. You have all the needed skills, but your lack of self-worth stops you from propelling forward. If you think this could be affecting you, you need to start believing in your value in order to overcome this obstacle. Sometimes this can be as easy as putting post-it notes on your mirror that say, “I am worthy of being wealthy” and other positive reinforcements that you can read all day long. Eventually, your mind will “shift” and you will believe it. How do you know when that happens? That invisible ceiling becomes a thing of the past!
The Fear of Failure
Although on the surface, the fear of success and fear of failure appear to be very different, the end result is exactly the same… you are living a mediocre existence with financial wealth and success eluding you.
Theodore Roosevelt said it perfectly…
“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
This means that it’s better to reach for big things and fail, than to live in regret, never taking a chance to go after success because of your fear of failing. 
Actually, fear of failure isn’t the root cause of a lack of success and riches. It is born out of self-protection.
Often, people who live in a fear of failure play the “blame game.” They always have to know who was at fault, so they can be assured it wasn’t them!
Those who deal with fear of failure will frequently self-sabotage their own efforts just so they no longer have to try. They care more about how others see them than how they see themselves and often, they can’t comprehend that living is growing as a person – something that includes making mistakes along the way.
So how can you get rid of the fear of failure as a freelance writer? Answer these questions and perhaps it will help you.
- What would be the worst thing that would happen to you if you failed?
Sometimes, all we need to do is let ourselves think about the very thing we fear. When we do, we may realize it is not as “daunting” as we once thought and it’s nothing to be afraid of.
- What would happen if you stopped blaming others for their mistakes and for your own?
What would happen is you would finally allow yourself the time and space to figure out how YOU can help yourself. Blaming others only keeps you in a holding pattern and though you may feel others are at fault for what has happened to you, if you don’t take responsibility for your actions, you will feel imprisoned by the actions of others instead of feeling the freedom you deserve. This one was a hard pill for me to swallow, but when I did, I became FREE of trying to make others “pay” for what they did to me, and in return, I had more joy and was able to welcome much more financial success in my life. Ultimately, every choice you have made in your life was YOUR choice, regardless of who influenced that decision.
- What would happen if you stop tying your self-worth to what others think about you?
What would happen is that you would start going after what you want regardless of what others think of you. Having a little concern about what people think of you is very normal. We have this concern because by nature, we are connectors, and losing that connection with people can feel uncomfortable. But, when your fear of what people think cripple you from living the fulfilling life you desire, that’s when it needs to be addressed.
Tackling Your Fears
Do you recognize one of these two fears (fear of success and fear of failure) in yourself? Then it’s time to make a change in your money mindset.
First of all…FACE the things you fear!
Speak to yourself continually…tell yourself that failure is simply a part of success.
If you’re afraid of failing as a writer, break down your writing career into small, bite-sized amounts. Take on smaller, easier writing gigs…ones that you are sure you will be successful in. Gradually increase the size of the jobs and their difficulty. Before you know it, those small failures will be a thing of the past and you will be on your way to fulfilling your greatest potential!
The key is to manage the fear so it doesn’t manage you and paralyze you in the process.
Most of all, hit your past failures head on! Think of the times and circumstances in your life that caused you to fail. Was it the end of the world? Did you lose your life?
Even if it was a life-changing failure, you’ve gone beyond that failure now. That alone is a really big success in itself. Don’t forget that. You are up there with the best of them.
You’re in the good company of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Jim Carey (he was homeless at one point!), 
Benjamin Franklin and the list goes on and on. Failure is a part of life just like breathing is. Once you believe that, you will become a great writer and the sky’s the limit for you in your freelance writing career.
Moving Forward
Whether you deal with fear of success or fear of failure or both, a negative mindset can stop you from reaching your greatest potential as a freelance writer and a successful, happy human being in general. Let’s once and for all break through that invisible ceiling and go for it.
I believe in you.
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FEAR was my biggest roadblock early on and it crippled me from succeeding.I've been there and I know how to overcome it. Let me help you!
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Wow, I never realized how much your mind can contribute to your success or failure as a freelance writer. This is interesting stuff.
Another great article Maggie!
I’ll be transparent with you and your readers for a minute…
When I first started down this journey of becoming a freelance writer the fear I had was not that clients and editors would not like my ideas, no, the fear I had was that they would like my ideas and then I would have to deliver on what I promised.
Since then, and after having several articles under-my-belt, I can admit to you that the larger projects that I take on (for example, I am putting together a book proposal that I am going to be soon pitching to an international bestselling author, who already has a 3 year book contract with the largest publishing company in the world) still triggers this fear in me.
In other words, when I do finish the proposal and I turn it into this author, my fear is not that he won’t like the idea, but that he will like it, and then I will have to deliver on what I promise.
But I have already faced this fear a number of times and came out victorious, and I am confident in myself and my abilities that I will be able to overcome this fear again. You wouldn’t believe how excited and enthusiastic I am about this project.