Ever reach a plateau?
You know what I mean. That place you get after you’ve been working hard at something and what once was excitement about learning a new thing becomes frustration with how long it’s taking.
It feels like you’ve reached your limit BUT believe me you haven’t.
I’ve hit a number of roadblocks in my web design journey.
Ok, real talk. There was one season when my Upwork job success score was really low. Like 75%. Most people won’t even look at you if you don’t have 100%.
I wasn’t getting any good jobs and I was literally having anxiety attacks wondering what I should do.
I learned a few things in that season that were invaluable. Here are a few things that will help you
1. Look At How Far You’ve Come
This may sound cheesy. But, trust me on this one.
It can get really easy to be frustrated by that one mountain you just can’t seem to get over. BUT, rather than look at the mountain you need to climb look back for a second at all the mountains you’ve overcome. Write them down if that helps you.
It’s likely that most people looking in on the situation would be impressed by your progress. You should be too!
Learning web design is no easy thing. Take a second to appreciate your hard work.
2. Think for a Second
Studies show that when we’re dealing with fear or anxiety our IQ actually drops significantly.
So, all of those scary movies where the person is about to walk through a door that is obviously going to lead them to their doom ARE LEGIT!
In the movie theater, we’re screaming at them wondering how they could be so dumb! But, when you get that scared, you don’t think clearly.
Try to distance yourself from the problem. Now strategize a game plan to help you overcome it.
3. Get Some Quick Wins on the Board
Dave Ramsey is a financial coach. He has a 6 step approach to getting people out of debt and into financial prosperity.
His process of getting people out of debt is to pay off their smallest debts first. So, that $500 credit card bill that’s been hanging around. Mark that one off first.
You may not like Dave Ramsey. That’s not the point really.
A lot of times we get discouraged by looking at the big picture. We have so far to go in so little time.
But, when you break things up into small doable pieces they seem much more possible.
As the saying goes, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. As Frozen II reminds us, do the next right thing.
So, what is something you can do TODAY that will be a quick win? Do that.
Then what happens is you begin to trust yourself again, feel like you’re gaining momentum, and you can begin to face some of your bigger challenges.
But, don’t worry about those right now. Do something small and simple and then celebrate for getting it done.
4. Keep Going
The worst thing to do in a season of struggle is to give up. Let me be your web design life coach for a second:
DON’T QUIT!
YOU GOT THIS!
You win if you don’t stop. Trust me.
The people that are most successful at web design are those that are able to stay around the longest.
Wrapping Up
Today, I get more requests to build websites than I ever have and I honestly don’t try to get them at all.
Why?
It’s not because I’m that much better than I used to be. It’s only because I’ve been around for longer and I have more projects to show in my portfolio.
That will be you one day if it isn’t all ready.
You just have to keep going.
Now, it’s your turn. What roadblocks have you overcome in the past? Which ones are you currently facing?
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