Like any other child in my childhood, I used to think that adults have the freedom to do anything. Being a sincere and obedient child I used to dream of the day to get over the student life and become an independent person in many ways. My childhood aspiration was to live a life where I am not forced to do anything but to live life on my own conditions. I wanted to be financially independent and take all small to big decisions of my life myself. To ask for money from even parents was not easy for me.

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.

After completing my graduation in sciences, I started my master’s in Mathematics, and in the middle of it, I got married. As IT was in the boom at that time I opted to study computers. I did my second master’s in Computer Applications and wanted to make my career in the field. My husband was already in the IT industry.

My initial work in conventional jobs

I was not aware of the challenges waiting for me being a female. I worked hard and cracked the interview with a leading IT Training company in New Delhi. I was excited to join on my first job as Corporate Trainer. Before I could join the company I realized of my pregnancy. I was pregnant with triplets. I wasn’t able to make it if it was a good or bad news for me.

I had to drop the idea of going to work for the next two years. I took good care of myself and my little ones. Meanwhile, at home, I continued providing maths tuitions to students in my vicinity. It helped me earn my pocket money. But something was missing as it was not moving me towards my main career.

Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.
Lady Gaga

I was enjoying the new phase of life being a mother but at the same time, the carrier issue was also disturbing me. I never wanted to be a compromised parent. I wanted to enjoy both the aspects. I was looking for a full-time maid to help me with kids. Finally, I found a nice girl to take care of my kids and soon she established a great bonding with them.

I joined a nearby computer institute as an instructor as a part-time job. But I could work only for two and a half months as my maid had to leave because of her personal reasons. With a new part-time maid, I could manage to continue with my tuition classes.

In the fourth year, they started going to school. I joined a school as a maths teacher and simultaneously I reluctantly started my another degree in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) to solidify my ground in the teaching which was a two years course from a distance education university.

In my this new innings I was full of passion and enthusiasm. I could not take the direct help of other family members as they were stuck in their own priorities. But I landed up with stress, frustrations, and fatigue while juggling with my work, kids, and B.Ed. All the things were not under control. I was clueless where to compromise as I really wanted to work and give quality time to kids. Eventually, I had to quit the job and for the next whole year, I was only able to focus on my family and the course I was pursuing. Finally, I completed my B.Ed.

Meanwhile, I got curious about the buzz going around regarding the freelancing business. I decided to jump in and experiment. I started making the ground by acquiring the required skills, certifications and establishing my website and making an online presence with the support from my husband. And then I got my first client as a freelancer, it was a long job and I got a five-star review for it. After this, I just took off and there was no looking back. Now it’s five years I am into to this business.

Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Following are the benefits which I got from my freelancing business.

I opted to work on UpWork as a freelancer for earning money, flexibility, and just to be my own boss where I am not directed how to get dress up, cringe every one around etc, but to focus on my work and other priorities. I never had expected that running this business would help me to become a better human being. I have experienced that a freelancing career is a microcosm of one’s whole life. It can empower you to evolve as a person and gives room for your passions.

Flexibility to set my own schedule

Good health has always been my priority. I would never earn the money at the cost of my health. I always pray to God to bless me with good health and not the money for medication. The freelancing carrier gave me the flexibility to set my schedule in such a way that I can get time for walks and other sports activities which help me to keep fit. I follow some simple hacks to stay fit.

There are days when I work long hours to meet the deadlines on projects but there are many days when I spend good time on the activities like walks, traveling, reading books, watching videos, managing other house and family-related chores etc.

The flexibility of choosing my time & location to work

It’s a great achievement to decide the time and location of your work. It eliminates your stress to travel to work, saves your money and increases your productivity. You can get enough sleep. You can play to your own strengths. You can work on your best hours to give your best performance.

The freedom to manage your own time boosts your confidence and sense of responsibility towards work. Most important is that you are free to choose your working style, which makes it more rewarding and satisfying. You’ll look forward to work and maintain a good relationship with your employer which is quite difficult in regular jobs.

You start loving your life and people around you when you are able to manage your own work time and your personal commitments. You can manage to stay with loving friends and family in different places. I love to work from my native home with my parents when kids have long holidays in school.

Control my earnings

As a freelancer, you can control your earning by working on a number of projects at your own agreed rate depending upon your skill set. Of course! in an early stage, you have to start with less rate but eventually, it increases. You can always work on to enhance your skill and hence the rate. Your earning is directly proportional to the quality of skillset and the results you provide to the clients. You can always find people who can pay you better.

You can work more or less as per your requirements. You can work for fewer hours and earn equivalent or more than from a regular 9-5 job. As your businesses grow, your earning also grow unlimited depending upon your hard work, discipline, learning, and sincerity.

Choose projects of your choice

You can always choose the kind of projects you want to work. Employees always work on the kind of projects they are assigned but freelancers can choose the work according to the passion and interest and can create his/her own niche. There are many areas where you can try your luck depending on where your passion drives you like Designers, Creatives, Programmers, Developers, Administrative Support Specialists, Writers, Translators or Finance Professionals.

Yes! there can be times when you have to work on some boring projects to maintain the reputation with clients and to earn some extra money but still if you don’t want to work on that project that’s your choice. No one can force you to do that. This factor keeps you motivated and still you manage to complete those projects.

Control your workload

You can always control your workload depending upon the other responsibilities. Being a parent there are days when you have to spend more time with kids or maybe you are going on a vacation or any other reason when you can’t spend your whole day for work. You can always decide for you how much you want to work.
Avoid the long commute

I realized that my commute for work is just sucking my money, energy, time. Even there are times when I’m not able to focus on my main work and which is not desired at all. Now I work from my home office and I use that extra time for my fitness activities. I go for morning walks, get enough time for a workout. In some way, I am contributing to the environment of the planet. It’s an awesome feeling when you see most people rushing to their work and you meet them while completing your long morning walks.

The chance to experiment with my skill set

One of the best opportunity of being a freelancer and being your own boss is to experiment with your skill set. You can always try to do things differently and do different things which you always wanted to or maybe you have come across recently.

I learned different tools out of curiosity and was able to use them in many projects. I can always set time and target to learn new technologies of my interest and keep myself in the edge of this fast-changing world which excites me. You can be a successful freelancer if you have the urge to learn and advance in your skills.

You work with the best manager

One of the things which I’m not good at is chasing for payments and negotiating with clients. I’m glad Upwork facilitates you by being your perfect account manager. It facilitates you by being a perfect Accountant, bookkeeper or a treasurer. Getting paid is quite straightforward and secure. People are using many freelance platforms but they have the fear of losing their money after working hard on projects. The escrow and other support system are very strong. It helps you if you are stuck in undesired situations with difficult clients.

Spending quality time with family and kids

It’s amazing to spend the quality time with your kids and family. Being a freelancer you get the chance to plan your day and get more quality time with family and friends. I take my kids for their sports and other activities. I can see their amazing expressions when coming from school and we can have lunch together. I can enjoy their childhood and keep the child alive within me being with them. You can plan your holidays with family by managing your workload.

Get time to explore your other passions and hobbies

I always wanted to learn to play keyboard but always seemed impossible. Two years back I bought a big keyboard for me. It was due to this setup and flexibility only when I could manage to learn and teach my kids to play sargams and songs on the keyboard. We learned to sing many songs together. They performed many songs in school and other platforms which I taught them, I am really glad about that. I could participate and win marathons which would not be possible with any other regular job for me with small triplet kids.

The freedom of time is a huge responsibility whether we realize it or not.

Learning to concentrate on what is really essential right now is the key to success. Prioritizing word comes up a lot. We all know that it’s important. But how exactly do we go about it? It’s a crucial method to plan your work, then do, delegate or drop the tasks. I am grateful to my nomad mode of working with my freelancing business which has provided me the opportunity to live the life of my childhood dream.

If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all. Michelangelo Buonarroti