Even the squirrels think it's tough out there...

It finally happened. After ten months of

• 796 proposals sent

• 63 proposals accepted

• 733 proposals rejected

• $258 spent on finding jobs

• countless hours of hard work

• a lot of research

• 60+ hours of training

• 6 books read

• unknown # of hours of crying

• a lot of help from my cheerleaders

here is the result...

I finally reached a 100% Job Success Score (JSS) on the Upwork Freelance Talent platform.

A freelancer's Job Success Score reflects their reputation on Upwork based on direct client feedback and other indicators of client satisfaction. It combines metrics on their clients' public and private feedback, long-term client relationships, client rehires, and contracts that don't result in work delivered.

Even after waiting MONTHS for this achievement, I just wasn't excited about it. For a number of reasons:

1. Securing jobs on Upwork is becoming increasingly difficult as the pool of talent grows larger by the minute, regardless of the quality of the talent.

2. A LOT of the jobs are low-paying for someone with my years of experience and expertise.

3. Many of the posted jobs have unrealistic expectations (like editing a 50k-word manuscript with unlimited revisions in 48 hours for $100).

So, even though I appreciate the 63 clients I've worked with over the past 10 months, especially those long-term collaborations I've joined, it's still tough to constantly have to fight for a project.

But I'm not the only one who's fighting and feeling it's tough.

The other day, these two cuties chased each other around the tree for almost three minutes. In and out, around and about, they would not stop trying to keep the other from enjoying the stash of peanuts.

Each of them was laser-focused so that the peanuts were placed there just for one of them, and their reasoning was that two squirrels could not possibly share the 40-50 peanuts that were on the ground.

After their escapades, they were both exhausted and stopped for a rest.

Oftentimes, with freelance work, there is no rest.

On a given week, you're

• sending out 20-30 proposals for jobs

• following up with clients about current projects

• working on current projects

• calculating taxes owed

• making sure your income will meet your monthly budget

• improving current or learning new skills

• learning how to properly invoice and draft contracts as you learn more about how the scope of work works

• drinking a lot of coffee and eating energy cookies

And sometimes it feels like the last achievement wasn't really that great because just to get ahead, you have to keep "moving the goal post," as my business mentor likes to say.

And then, I heard this:

I do recognize that in a large pool of talent, only the top 6% are both Top-Rated and have a 100% Job Success Score. I know this is an awesome accomplishment.

But I can't stop there.

Greatness is determined by what I do next.

I will continue to put my very best effort into the work I do each day because my clients are the most important and valued business relationships I have in this line of work.

I will spend time creating an online portfolio to increase my visibility and presence.

I will keep submitting applications to be an editorial assistant because, even though I love the freelancing flexibility, I'd really love to work in book publishing. (Ya hear me yet, PRH, cuz I've been trying for 10 years now...)

Who knows what great things will show up next week?

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