Fear and doubt are your superpowers in freelancing

This post is not revolutionary.

This post is a reminder.

A reminder that your perspective is your superpower.

That your perspective — not some fancy new tool, not an AI assistant, not a perfect website, not the perfect pipeline — is your superpower.

"Superpower???"

Yeah, I know right? How crazy is it that your superpower is "simply" how you choose to see things? Wild.

And that mindset shift? Pwoah. That’s what turns freelancing from a constant, uphill battle into a passion-fuelled, growth-filled, fun journey.

The constant practice of reframing

Freelancing is often sold as this expansive freedom from the 9-to-5:

"Be your own boss. Work from anywhere. Choose your schedule. Earn 10 times more."

And yeah, it can be. It really can be.

But it's also lonely AF sometimes. There's no team lead, there's no sick leave, there's no watercooler chat when shits gets real. All the things we lean on for support when it's difficult aren't there, and we become our own support system.

We have to face the empty inbox, the client-ghosting, and the anxiety of hitting "send" on a proposal that we really need to land, all on our own.

We are the person we go to when we lie awake at 01:30 in the morning thinking: What if I have no idea what I’m doing?

And no, this isn’t about pretending those things don’t exist. Oh boy, they do.

It’s about recognising that these things — these "weaknesses" we believe we have "get over" — are signs that we're doing everything right.

That we're pushing past what’s comfortable. That we care enough to want to do better.

Weakness reframed as strengths.
Roadblocks reframed as inflection-points.

This isn't revolutionary. I'm not proposing that I've discovered something holy.

This is simply a reminder.

What is a "weakness"?

Weaknesses are commonly associated with a deficiency of some kind: A weak immune system lacks white blood cells; a weak acid lacks certain compounds; a weak foundation lacks structural integrity.

These are all things we can arguably classify as "not up for discussion, because science."

Fair.

But weakness has become a social currency, too. And that's where things get dangerous...

Let's imagine a "weak" person for a second: What comes to mind for you? Think first, then read on.

...

Now, if we apply the weakness formula from above: What do they lack, that makes them weak?

(Don't be shy, no one is judging you, this is a thought-experiment)

• If you imagined a person without muscles, they might lack strength or physicality.

• If you imagined a scared child, they might lack bravery and poise.

• If you imagined a pushover, they might lack self-confidence.

But notice how these are all context-based assessments.

• Put the un-muscular person onto a horse, and you've someone with great potential to be a jockey.

• Put the scared child into a colourful play-room, and you've oodles of creativity.

• Put the pushover into a therapist's seat, and you've got someone with endless empathy.

“Right, Jomiro. Fair enough — but what does this have to do with me?”

Great question, and the point I'm trying to make is that weakness-based judgements on character are... well, weak at best.

In other words: Things like being afraid, having doubts, and holding insecurities — all those things we usually label as “weaknesses-to-be-defeated/overcome/avoided” — aren’t actually weaknesses at all if given the right context. And that context is a mindset-shift.

Let’s make this more concrete, and start with “fear”…

Fear: Do it scared

Psychologists say fear exists to keep us alive: See scary thing, run away from scary thing (thanks fear!), survive.

In this context, fear is pretty great if you ask me.

But this only really makes sense if you're running from a bear. It makes a lot less sense if you’re trying to send a client proposal.

The trick, however, is learning to tell the difference between "this will f***ing kill me" and "this is just uncomfortable."

In her TED Talk, Embracing Fear, Shai Markwardt talks about how avoiding fear keeps us small. She always thought she needed to be brave in order to achieve her goals. So she waited until she felt brave.

Her lesson? Do it scared. Because growth requires discomfort, and fear can be a catalyst for insane momentum — ifharnessed correctly.

The first time I pitched a client, I was convinced they’d laugh me out of the room. (Spoiler: they didn’t.)
The first time I raised my rates, I was convinced no one would ever hire me again. (Spoiler: they did.)

The fear was still there. But I did it anyway. And I did it better because of it.

So next time fear shows up? Ask yourself: Is this fear actually warning me of danger, or is it just my brain freaking out because I'm stretching past what’s comfortable?

Nine times out of ten, it’s the second one.

(Follow-up question: How can I use this fear to my advantage, and what is it helping me do better?)

Doubt: Do it (especially) if you're unsure

"Don't doubt yourself!"

PING!

An email lands in your inbox:

"Hey! I heard from someone you do copywriting, and I was wondering if you could help us level-up our blog posts on intermittent fasting? We’d need about 3 blog posts a week, and our budget is pretty big for this."

Uhm... Gulp. You've never written on that topic before. You’ve never written that many pieces in a week before. You've never even fasted intermittently. Are you at all capable of taking on this gig? Are they going to ask for a refund? Are you even a real copywriter???

...

Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory explains that when we hold two conflicting thoughts — for example, "I want to be a successful copywriter" and "I don’t know if I’m good enough" — our brain forces us to reconcile them. It doesn't like imbalance, so it seeks an answer. It needs equilibrium.

Doubt causes two conflicting ideas to come into question. It lets us interrogate whether one or both are true, and how they coexist with one another.

Think of doubt like a systems check: It forces us to ask better questions, refine our approach, and — if only we let it — become a sharper, more intentional freelancer.

Without doubt, we don’t uncover our blindspots. Without doubt, we become indifferent to anything other than what we already believe.

When I started freelancing, I doubted a lot: My rates, my skills, am I even a designer if I don't have a niche... Yada yada yada. That doubt paralysed me. It left me feeling stuck.

But at some point, I exited the doubt-coma. I had run the equations in my head and my brain had forced me to refine my message, my work, and my confidence.

Doubt isn’t the enemy. Indifference is. Let doubt guide you towards a clearer understanding, and sharper perspective.

The Goldilocks Zone, and the other superpowers

This all really comes down to one over-arching principle, which can then be (theoretically) applied to any other “weakness.”

The Goldilocks Zone: Too little, or too much, and it doesn’t work; but juuust the right amount is where the gold is at. That’s where we want to be. That’s an awareness we can learn to develop. An awareness about when we reach that zone, and how to stay there.

When we learn to leverage fear, doubt, insecurity, loneliness, frustration, stress — you name it! — as strengths and opportunities, we stop fighting ourselves. And we start using them to get sharper, stronger, and more resilient than most freelancers out there.

Fun aside:

I’ll be speaking at Freelance Unlocked (Berlin, 14-15 May 2025), and will be diving deeper into this topic. I’ll be breaking down exactly how to shift your perspective and use these "negative" emotions to your advantage. Let me know if you’ll be around, and make sure to follow me to if you’d like to stay abreast of my experience there! 😉