Risk: the salt of Gig Work
Why risk taking is a key ingredient that a gig worker (and anyone else, really) can have in their arsenal.
I’ve been asked why I considered freelancing as a career option, even before I finished my first degree. A question followed by “how I’ve made it work” all the years I have been offering various clients my services. I didn’t know how to answer these questions until recently, all thanks to a year I took to work a full-time job from 2020.
While I didn’t plan on taking a break from freelancing to go back to working a 9 to 5, circumstances (and goals) led me to need a stable income (one of the many consequences of living in a pandemic). I discovered that having a stable job came with minimal risk, something that worked well for me at first. I settled in comfortably into showing up at certain times and (sometimes) knocking off at a reasonable hour, doing pretty mundane work most of the time and getting paid for it.
After a few months of this, though, I found myself really struggling with a confusing sense of restlessness. It was an uncomfortable sensation, laced with courage I had known since the earliest days of my freelancing career. At the end of the year I spent working full-time, taking risks that were either severely punished or that were ignored even if they yielded good results, I unknowingly set an intention to pick up the mantle in my freelancing brand again. And here I am. Resuscitating my brand and considering all the risks that I have to take as a freelancer. Quite different from the sheltered protection of using resources that you aren’t responsible for, here is what I know has worked to help me get this far in my experience as a gig worker:
Understanding that the stakes are higher when risk-taking as a freelancer. We can all relate to the fear of not having enough to cover monthly living expenses, let alone overheads that keep your proverbial lights on. I’ve come to appreciate that the best outcomes happened when I took risks that were (mostly) calculated. This is not to say there haven’t been instances where I’ve seriously considered abandoning my one-man ship because of miscalculations with serious financial consequences. Its all a delicate balancing act.
I use risk as a teacher. And that’s because I consider risk the most radical manifestation of courage, the biggest way to flip off your fear. But learning through risk comes with significant challenges and uncomfortable realizations that can (honestly, as cliché as it sounds) be life-altering.
Using risk-taking as an avenue of self-improvement. Taking risks has helped me continue raising the bar and set my sight on new challenges. Raising my hand to take on projects that I have minimal experience and context with has led to unintentional growth. This has paid off in the most beautiful way, despite some of the faux pas I committed while earning how to do this tactfully. At times I would overcommit (before I learnt about boundaries) and do a dreadfully disappointing job at something I was barely equipped to do anyway. I obviously risked (and sometimes damaged) my reputation significantly while learning about this side of my character (an example of a poor return on risk). Once I learnt how to manage this, however, I found a thrilling path to continuous self-improvement. And so I sometimes take risks that require me to learn a new skill hard and fast so I can deliver exceptional work (something I am still exploring deeply, years after discovery).
Now, it’s important to acknowledge that risk-taking is a privilege that many (especially right now) cannot fathom contemplating as an avenue of breakthrough in their careers. I’ve found it to be a key element that does set you apart from the rest; it allows for agility in ways little else does when freelancing. It’s worth considering when all else that is tried and true does not yield desired results (having considered your personal capacity for such risk, of course). But honestly, in a world where liminality is the new normal, how much do you really have to lose?
What To Watch this week features a video by Matt D’Avella, a filmmaker, (fave) Youtuber, and certified gig worker. In it, he speaks about almost quitting his YouTube channel with over 3 million subscribers. Watch it here.
It reminded me of the difficulty in challenging the underlying intentions and motivations behind taking a particular path in your career. This happens more often than not when freelancing, but Matt does well in giving some ways of resolving that knot.