Start Here: Step #1 to Leading a Healthy Freelance Life

Do any of these sound familiar?

• I want to lead a healthy freelance life, but I don’t know where to start.
• I have a lot of work-related stress, but I’m not sure what I can to reduce it.
• I would like to sit less, but I have to when I work
• I feel like I have too much to do and it stresses me out
• I get sore from sitting so long throughout the day
• I need to find a better work/life balance
• I would like to improve my overall well being, but there are too many things to worry about

If you can relate to any of these statements, then you are definitely in the right place. “Being healthy” is such a broad term that most people don’t know exactly what it means and if they do, there are so many different aspects that it quickly becomes overwhelming.

I get that there’s information overload out there with everyone saying they have the latest and greatest, but I don’t think there’s one “best” option for everyone out there. It reminds me of when I worked as a personal trainer, I would always get some version of this question:

“What’s the best diet I should follow?”

My answer was never as satisfying as most people hoped since they wanted me to give them a definitive answer. However, it’s not that simple. My answer would be:

“The best diet is the one you, personally, can stick to.”

Maybe the Atkins diet is perfect for some people, while intermittent fasting works for others. It depends on your lifestyle, your spouse, your children, your job, your dedication and how extreme you want your change to be.

I believe this logic can be used for almost everything in both your personal and professional life:

• Want to start a business? What plan or type of business will drive you to keep going through the tough times?
• Want to work out? Which work out best suits you so that you won’t drop it after a month?
• Want less stress? How can you change your perspective over the long-term that will help you lower your stress levels?

For me the answers to those questions are one thing, for you, they’ll most likely be something else. All of our situations are different, all of our lives are complex. We all have different routines and responsibilities, and although there may be one “best” workout out there, if it doesn’t fit your lifestyle, you won’t succeed. Doing the 2nd or 3rd best workout because it fits your lifestyle is better than not doing any workout at all.

So that being said, this is where I would personally start if I were beginning my journey to live a healthy freelance life.

Goals for a Healthy Freelance Life

“If you didn’t wake up with goals, then go back to sleep” – I don’t know who said it, but I like it.

Goals are the first, and most important step to any change or journey that you’re embarking on. They’re your end game. Without direction, you’ll be going in circles. Unfortunately, very few of us actually set any goals. We have “vague” ideas of what we’d like to do like, make more money, lose weight, de-stress, get more clients, etc.

But what do those mean? How do you know when you’ve “lost weight?” Is 1 pound losing weight, 10 lbs? Are 2 clients getting more clients? How much money is “more money”?

There’s a very well known acronym for goal writing, S.M.A.R.T., and  it stands for:

Specific – simple, sensible, significant

Measurable – meaningful, motivating

Actionable – agreed, attainable

Relevant –  reasonable, realistic

Timely – time-sensitive, time-limited

How to write your Healthy Freelance Life Goals

So how do those five aspects fit into goal writing? I’ve already given you some examples of poorly written goals:

• Lose weight
• Make more money
• Get new clients
• Be more successful

Those are relevant, yes, but they’re not specific, measurable, timely, or actionable. Now let’s take a look at a few well written S.M.A.R.T. goals.

• Lose 5 lbs (measurable) this month (timely, realistic,) by substituting soda for water and going to the gym 3 times per week (specific, actionable).
• Meditate 10 minutes (measurable) per day (timely, realistic) by putting a reminder on my phone at 9 AM (specific, actionable)

Do you see how those are much different than “lose 10 lbs” and “de-stress”? S.M.A.R.T. goals give you the exact step(s) you’re going to do to achieve your goal.

How to decide on healthy freelance life goals

Make sure the goals you decide on are actually under your control. For example, “getting new clients” is not really under your control as it’s ultimately the client who decide if they’d like to work with you or not. If you reworded like “Approach 15 potential clients this month to discuss how my services can help them improve their ROI” is definitely under your control and S.M.A.R.T.

Decide on three health-related things you’d like to improve. For me, they’re drink less wine, wake up earlier, meditate 15 minutes a day.

So my goals are (and yes, these really are my goals)

1. Substitute cold, home-brewed tea for wine Sunday to Thursday and then limit myself to 2 drinks both Friday and Saturday.
2. Be in bed reading by 9:30 and lights off by 10, set alarm at 6 a.m. and put it the other side of the room.
3. Set a reminder on my phone 7 days a week at 6:20 a.m. to meditate for 15 minutes using the Calm app on my phone.

Now it’s your turn! Jot down, yes, actually write down with a pen and paper the three things you would like to write goals about and then write your S.M.A.R.T. goals afterwards.

Please share them in the comments below!

I will respond to each and every goal in the comments and give some feedback and tips on what I think.

Remember! This is just step #1. Now the real work begins to start leading a healthy freelance lifestyle!

Check for step #2 on how to fulfil and stick to your goals of a healthy freelance life coming next week!

Creating habits and fulfilling goals means constant effort. Grab the Healthy Freelancer Habit Tracker to keep track of how many days you’ve done your new habit in a row!