The main argument these dream killers have is that your goals are unrealistic. They will advise you to be more “practical”, and pretend they are offering you sound advice.

Many of them believe they are doing a favor by discouraging you. They think they are helping you live a life in “your best interest”. But really, they are encouraging you to a live a life without vision.

If you are really motivated toward success, doing anything less than your ambitious goals will be unfulfilling for you. You end up wondering what could have been. You continue to live your life for other people, instead of yourself.

Your friends and family who discourage you from trying something new are only giving you insight into what they would do in your position. They do not have the vision and the drive that you do. They are only reacting out of their own fear.

Other people take the path of least resistance, but that does not mean that you have to. Your goals are important to you for a reason. You will only be happy when you achieve them. Giving up on your goals because other people think they are unrealistic is no way to live your life.

How to you overcome the dream killers in your life?

You may want to start with choosing who you spend your time with. If you want to be self-motivated, you’ve got to spend time with other people who are self-motivated. The same goes for the other aspects of success.

If the dream killers in your life are close relatives, and long time friends, try keeping your business goals to yourself for a while until you get going. By the time you’ve had a little success, they will probably be a lot more supportive.

Finally, the best way to overcome the dream killers in your life is to be confident in yourself and your goals. If you are truly confident in yourself and your ideas, then no one can stop you.

Keep your goals and dreams in front of you all the time. They will be your motivation, when some of your “well-meaning friend” try to discourage you.

Don’t let anyone steal YOUR DREAM!

Just as these are all wonderful and true, there are plenty of reasons for the self-employed entrepreneur to encounter terrific amounts of stress. Sometimes more than if they worked for a high-powered company.

Aside from the stress of having to find new clients and new jobs, freelances often experience stress because jobs come in crazy, sporadic bursts. One day your schedule is almost empty, and the next day it seems like you can barely keep up.

Deadlines can be overwhelming, and when one is overwhelmed, productivity plummets. The brain is no longer focused on creativity and action, but is scattered and reacting (not acting.)

When deadlines stack up, here’s what to do. First, reduce stress by… Stopping. Sounds a bit radical, and it’s really hard to do. But just stop. Listen to a great song. Go outside. Do anything that clears your mind for ten minutes.

Then Examine The Situation. There will be items that need to be done pronto, tasks that can be done later that day, and an exercise or two that can be done later in the week.

Sometimes an assignment will have to be delayed. It’s hard to pick up the phone and make the call to say “I’d like to get a little more time on this job,” but you’ll be surprised to find how pleasantly effective this can be. Many clients often have no problem with a moderate delay. Give it a go, and give yourself one less stress factor.

Next, physically arrange the tasks before you in this manner. Yes, in stacks: Right Away, Later Today, Tomorrow, Delay.

You’ve just begun to take control of the situation. Even though the work ahead of you hasn’t changed – it is still daunting – you will have the means and the organization to manage it.

If the nature of any of your tasks allow it, call upon a colleague who can help you. If you’ve never done this before, now is the perfect time to start. This form of subcontracting will cost you part of your profits, true… but in a pinch it allows you to get the job done, which is your number one priority. The nice thing about this sort of arrangement is your colleague will most likely send jobs your way when he or she gets overloaded.

It is easy to say that advanced scheduling and personal time management can ward off the majority of these problems. But the reality is… in the world of self employment, deadlines can go from zero to mind-boggling overnight.

The truth is, it’s not a good idea on many levels to turn jobs down; and so we tend to take them all on. With a little resolve and these tricks up your sleeve, you’ll get the jobs done well.