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As a freelancer, self-doubt is an issue I deal with on a regular basis.
From worrying that my work isn’t good enough to wondering if this is actually the right job for me, I’ve definitely grappled with difficult freelance doubts throughout my career so far.
In my first year of freelancing, I spent a lot of time working on my outlook.
I found a few key ways to deal with self-doubt and imposter syndrome, including how to build a positive mentality towards myself and my work.
In this blog post, I’m discussing my experience of self-doubt as a freelancer- and a few top tips to deal with it!
Experiencing self-doubt as a freelancer
If you’re a freelancer or you work for yourself, chances are you’ll experience self-doubt.
Self-doubt is that crippling, often overwhelming feeling that you’re not doing a good job. You might doubt:
- If your writing is good enough
- If you’re charging enough
- If anyone will ever want to hire you
- If you should have taken the leap to freelance work
- If you know what you’re doing
In fact, it’s likely that you’ll worry about all of these things- and more!
Self-doubt is a tricky issue. It can have a negative effect on the way you view yourself.

However, when you work for yourself, your mentality is so important.
You control what you do and how you work- and so it’s essential to maintain a positive outlook on yourself and your career.
I recently saw a LinkedIn post from a fellow freelancer, who made the point that if a boss treated you as poorly as you treated yourself, you’d file a complaint.
If you’re a freelancer, you are your own boss- and so you need to treat yourself in the kind, nurturing and supportive way that gets results.
Self-doubt can also have a detrimental effect on your work, too, if it starts to get out of control.
If you’re constantly doubting your own skills, it can make it harder to promote yourself to clients.
You might not describe yourself in the best way possible, or you might not apply for an opportunity at all if you doubt whether you can do it or not.

Self-doubt and imposter syndrome go hand-in-hand.
As a freelancer, you might think that you don’t have enough experience when you first get started- and this might affect the way you view your career.
Likewise, even as you start to gain experience, you might still feel like an imposter in the freelance world.
You might worry that there are others that know how to do the job better- and so why would anyone pick you over them?
But the truth is, everyone experiences doubts just like this. It can be really hard to get out of negative patterns when it comes to our mentality towards ourselves.
It’s taken a lot of time and energy (and lots of help from other people, too) to get to a place where I can manage freelance self-doubt- and I still struggle with it sometimes.
My top tips to deal with self-doubt as a freelancer
Self-doubt is a big part of freelance life- but that doesn’t make it any easier when you experience it.
I’ve put together 5 top tips to deal with self-doubt as a freelancer, including ideas that anyone can try out.
1. Accept it
As with many things in life, it’s important to accept your self-doubt.
This can help you think about where it comes from and how to deal with it, on a personal level.
Accept that freelancing isn’t always a walk in the park, and sometimes the biggest struggle is changing your mentality towards yourself and your work.

Accepting self-doubt can also get to the root of the problem. Although self-doubt is very common, there could be something deeper going on.
Check in with yourself and take a bit of time to examine what is giving you feelings of doubt.
2. Remember that you’re not alone
It’s so important to remember that you’re not alone. Everyone deals with self-doubt, even those in “traditional” jobs.
Whether you worry about finding the right clients or you doubt your skills as a writer, self-doubt as a freelancer is very common.
Join freelancer threads such as Peak Freelance to connect with other people in the profession and make connections on social media.
This will help you realise that everyone deals with these issues, and it could even give you a few tips to settle into freelance life.
3. Practice self-love
Self-love is the perfect antidote to self-doubt, helping you believe in yourself and restore your confidence.
Unfortunately, it’s very easy for our brains to start criticising everything we do. Practising self-love means changing the narrative, and actively thinking about ourselves in a positive way.

This is easier said than done, but finding small ways to silence your inner critic is a great way to reduce self-doubt, especially when it comes to imposter syndrome or those times when you don’t feel “good enough”.
This could be as simple as writing down whenever you achieve something.
You can go back to this at a low point, to remind yourself that the freelance lifestyle experiences lots of ups and downs.
4. Avoid comparison
In the freelance world, it is impossible to compare yourself to other people- and yet we all do it!
Even those freelancers on the same level as you will do some things differently, and we all deal with self-doubt on a regular basis.
From freelance writers to remote interpreters, it is so important to avoid comparing yourself to others in your profession.
It doesn’t achieve anything, and it just feeds the idea that you are somehow doing something “wrong”.
There’s a difference between getting advice from another freelancer, and actively comparing yourself to them.
I’ve got some of my most valuable ideas from other people- but the problems start when you judge yourself based on unhelpful comparisons.
5. Do your research
Sometimes, the best way to deal with a problem is to learn as much as you can about it.
Do your research about concepts such as imposter syndrome, to find out how you can get help when you need it.
You could set yourself goals and think about how you can make an effort to reduce self-doubt.

Arm yourself with as much information as you can about anything that worries you.
For example, I always doubt myself when it comes to pricing. So I’ve connected with a few lovely freelancers, and I’m learning how to sort out my negotiations or my pricing to suit me- and my clients.
Are you a freelancer? Have you dealt with self-doubt in the past? Do you have any tips to deal with self-doubt?
Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂
Happy reading x
Self-doubt can be overpowering. I see other bloggers and think ‘how can I compare?’ Great ideas to deal with this.
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting Jamie. You’re doing a fantastic job on your blog and writing 🙂
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Amazing! As a blogger, I always have a lot of self-doubts and never know if my content is good enough for people to want to read it. But I have a little saying to help me keep going when I am starting to doubt myself – “I am capable and everything is figure outable”.
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I love that! Yes it can be so easy to compare yourself to other people online, but it’s important to believe in yourself 🙂
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Self-doubt is like a thief that creeps in without your notice and steals your happiness and peace. You are absolutely right in saying that everyone has self-doubt at any stage of their life. Wonderful post 👍
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts 🙂 yes I agree, it can really mess with your happiness
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This advice is very useful in general for self-doubt and I love that you’ve explored this in regards to freelancing; I can imagine that working within that field brings up feeling that have to be worked through. Great ideas!
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Thank you Molly- yes, everyone can experience self-doubt. I’m glad you found the post helpful x
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I absolutely needed to read this today!
I am always battling imposter syndrome but this is so helpful, especially enjoyed this part:
“I recently saw a LinkedIn post from a fellow freelancer, who made the point that if a boss treated you as poorly as you treated yourself, you’d file a complaint.”
Information I didn’t know I needed. Thank you!
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That LinkedIn post really helped me too! I couldn’t find it again, but I really liked what she had to say 🙂 thank you so much Sammi, I really appreciate it. It’s true, imposter syndrome is so common- and everyone deals with it on a daily basis x
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Great things to consider and I just recently started focusing more on self-love. Thank you for these tips!
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That’s great to hear! Thank you 🙂
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Thank you Anna! Yes, I think self-doubt can affect so many parts of our lives, and it’s important to accept it to move on 🙂
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Avoiding comparison is most important in our opinion. It only leads to being miserable.
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Yes it is never good. Thank you for reading and commenting x
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These are such great tips on how to deal with self doubt! Thank you so much for sharing them!
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Thank you 🙂
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Dealing with it right know, cause I started to be freelancing in a new country.
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That must be tough!
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Great post and these points can absolutely apply to being a full-time blogger as well – there’s often times of SO much self-doubt!
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Thank you Jenny! I hope they can apply to other situations too, I completely agree- doubt is a huge part of working for yourself x
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I’m not a freelancer but I can definitely relate to doubting myself all the time. These are some great suggestions. Self love and looking after yourself is definitely top of the list.
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We all do it! Thank you for sharing Kelly x
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I deal with self doubt everyday. It’s hard because I’m trying to set up my business and in my first months I’ve had 1 set back if someone not paying and then discovering how much AI can do. It is hard to stop the negative feelings though.
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I completely understand Annabel, it can be really hard. I’m sorry to hear that someone didn’t pay you- that sucks. Thank you for reading and commenting x
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These points definitely apply to bloggers as well as freelancers, such a good read! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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Thank you Lucy 🙂
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This is such a good topic! I think way more people have a bit of imposter syndrome when it comes to freelancing than they like to admit it’s good to discuss it! Thing is to not compare as we don’t all start in the same place, remember your wins, and that as you build up bits of evidence for yourself, you can be more confident 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you! Yes I completely agree, imposter syndrome and self-doubt go hand in hand! That’s so true Andrea, thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
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I’ve never worked as a freelancer, but I’ve experienced self-doubts. Me and self-doubts fit together like a hand in a glove. And I think the biggest factor in that is making comparisons. Nobody wins when you making comparisons
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I think we all experience it. Yes that’s so true, comparisons are so unhealthy but it can be hard to stop. Thank you for reading and commenting
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As someone who has been holding back from trying freelancing, this post is super helpful! My biggest issue is feeling like I am not good enough, so I will be bookmarking these tips for the next time I’m feeling that way. Thank you!
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Thank you Jackie 🙂 I completely understand, I think everyone experiences that feeling. We can do this x
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These are so many helpful tips. I am the queen of self-doubt. But it is something I would like to work on. Thank you for sharing.
Lauren x
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I understand! I hope you find these tips helpful, thank you Lauren x
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Heartwarming and motivating blog post, freelancing is like a rollercoaster 🎢. You’re right self love is so important. Self Doubt is my biggest problem, I try to shake it off but I must admit it gets the better of me sometimes. But no comparisons is a good reminder it removes so much stress. Thanks for sharing, blogger life is harrrrrd.
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Thank you 🙂 I think a lot of people struggle with it, for sure. Blogging can definitely be hard, I agree!
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These are good tips to deal with self doubt. I like the second last point the most. Comparing yourself to others lead you to self doubt. So don’t compare yourself. You are unique! You are awesome!
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Thank you 🙂 yes so important!
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Yes! One of the biggest challenges for everyone making their own way. Thank you!
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Great post and these points can absolutely apply to being a full-time blogger as well – there’s often times of SO much self-doubt!
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Definitely! Thank you Tyler 🙂
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I agree with alot of these points, I think in any profession it’s extremely easy to get caught up comparing yourself to others you deem more successful than yourself, but it’s best to focus that energy on yourself x
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Yes I think it is so easy to compare yourself to others, but it never does any good. Thank you for reading and commenting Kayleigh 🙂
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I think avoiding comparison is so important! I’m a freelancer myself, but haven’t been able to find work since December which is extremely disheartening. I just have to keep my head up and keep applying for work and stop comparing myself to other people with jobs. Great tips!
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That is very disheartening, I understand. It can be hard when work fluctuates so much- I think everyone is in the same situation! Yes, comparison is never healthy. Thank you and good luck x
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This is something I need to work on as I can be so critical of myself and my work. Thank you for sharing how to deal with those feelings.
Lauren – bournemouthgirl
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I think it’s so easy to criticise yourself, thank you for sharing Lauren. You’ll get there!
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Currently riding the same rollercoaster that is freelancing – have done so for a while – and while it does get better, these tips are without a doubt extremely helpful even a few years down the line!
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Thank you! I’m so glad you find them helpful, good luck with everything freelance 🙂
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Great post! Thanks for sharing these useful tips!
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Thank you!
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Great post – imposter syndrome is real, and it’s so hard to get over. Part of the way through it I think is to try to realise that everyone gets it. Some good ideas here. Thanks : )
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Definitely! Speaking to others about it can really help 🙂 thank you for reading xx
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