3 Proven Ways to Achieve Lasting Financial Freedom as a Freelance Medical Writer.

Is pursuing freelance medical writing going to give you the financial freedom you so desperately crave? In my professional opinion, it will. But only if 3 crucial considerations are made along the way.

First, you must carve out sufficient time to think deeply about what an ideal work-life balance looks like for you, how much you want to work, which kinds of projects energize you, and what will make you feel truly appreciated, professionally. Having your own business, as a freelance medical writer, does grant you the freedom to not only figure all of these things out, but also to make that dream a reality. However, this only works if you know exactly what you're aiming for: a step most new medical writers miss completely.

A lot of people decide to pursue freelance writing careers because there's something about their health, disposition, and/or personal circumstances that prohibits them from being able to work a 40-hour week, long-term, without burning out. For example, if you have a chronic health issue and some days it takes all of your effort just to carry out daily activities, it’s not going to be good for your body to push yourself to work on top of that. In order for your medical writing business to give you financial freedom, you must only work when you feel energized and ready for a challenge or some intellectual stimulation, and only on projects that are truly aligned with your passion and life purpose. This is how you'll be able to move the needle in your business as much as possible, without ever having to push yourself beyond the limits of what your body can (or wants to) do.

Let's consider one of my students as a case study. "Heather" is currently under extremely stressful circumstances at work. She's being harassed by colleagues, consistently over-worked, and regularly pushed to her limits. Heather also manages a chronic health condition that means she's unable to work long hours by default, and her symptoms are exacerbated under stressful circumstances. Leaving her full-time position is not an option right now, so Heather is building up a freelance medical writing business on the side until she feels ready to reduce her hours or jump ship into full-time entrepreneurship.

One of the primary considerations for Heather, during this career transition phase, is to preserve and prioritize her health. If she's able to do this—i.e., not putting tons of pressure on herself to see a certain amount of progress in her business in a particular time-frame—she will be successful in achieving financial freedom. If not, she won't. More importantly, the reason Heather is able to juggle both a demanding full-time position and establishing a freelance writing business is because the mindset shift she's been cultivating through my 1:1 coaching program has been so powerful that it's energized her to forge ahead. Simply knowing that she's proactively working towards creating a new, fulfilling lifestyle and career path for herself has enabled her to rise above the daily stress and harassment she faces at work and endure. Within just a couple of weeks of enrolling, she told me, “It’s been so long since I’ve felt this energized and uplifted!” The key takeaway here is that your actions have to be fully aligned in order to make any new business sustainable—that's the only true path to financial freedom.

The second key determinant for creating financial freedom as a freelance medical writer is to properly refine and monetize your writing skills. Even if you've done a lot of writing in your lifetime, how do you know it's client-worthy? Does it legitimately warrant the premium fees you'll need to charge in order to achieve financial freedom? I'll answer this for you—probably not. Few people have very solid written communication skills—whether naturally, or developed through extensive practice. In order to be valued highly for all that you have to offer, you’ll need to learn how to write in such a way that:

• attracts new, ideal clients consistently 'cause your marketing is on point,
• your niche speaks directly to your audience’s needs, and
• your reputation precedes you in the industry.

Yes, it’s going to be challenging at first, but the more you learn, the more empowered you’ll feel to take control of your freelance journey and the more financial freedom you’ll gain in the long run.

The best part is: you can learn and practice all of these things without having to leave your full-time position until you actually have clients and it no longer makes sense for you to be doing both things simultaneously. And guess who will have complete control over that moment, when you’ll officially switch from employee to entrepreneur? You. This will mark a long string of events whereby you’ll take back ownership of your time, energy, health, and all of the other things you’ve had to sacrifice to keep your employers happy, and can focus 100% on your own needs. And for those of you who are already freelancing, you'll finally be able to increase your rates such that your business brings you freedom; not stress.

That’s exactly what happened to "Roberta". Just six months after she launched her freelance writing business, she quit her full-time job to pursue her passions and found herself more fulfilled, accomplished, and healthy than ever before. Here’s what she had to say: “At some point, I was making as much part-time as a writer as I was with my full-time salary, so it just didn’t make sense to stay in my government job anymore, and I quit!” Since then, Roberta has applied the transferable skills she learned at Prospology to do more of the things she loves, get paid for doing them, and enjoy the financial freedom that her new lifestyle permits. If you too dedicate the necessary time and effort to refining and learning how to monetize your writing skills, you will see the same results. (Feel free to comment below, if you need support!)

Next, let me give you the most important insight of all—the one that finally allowed me to turn everything around and experience the financial freedom I had only dreamed of. Prior to learning this, I was fully dependent on my partner financially, working 24/7—always either burned out or trying to recover from burnout, and dealing with constant health issues that made me feel depressed, unfulfilled, and terrible about myself and the direction that my life was going in. And that didn't change immediately after I launched my freelance medical writing business. But first, I want to share this quote from best-selling author, Brené Brown:

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.”

The only way to foster growth and overcome fear is to open yourself up to trying something new. To change an outcome, you have to change the actions that lead to that outcome. If you really want to see positive change in your life, you’ll have to get out of your comfort zone, seek support, and be open to new perspectives, approaches, and ways of life. You’re the only person who can achieve this for yourself, but you need to commit to consistent effort and embrace the learning process in order to carve out a new path for your future.

So, if you’re ready to take the next steps towards building a freedom-focused lifestyle that’s purposeful, balanced, and supportive of your health, pay close attention...

The third piece of the puzzle, that’s super important to pay attention to, is that you must heal your relationship with work in order to sustain financial freedom in the long run. Let me explain. On the surface, it may seem as though you have everything figured out. But, even if you have an abundance of clients, awesome projects rolling in, and a consistent stream of income that easily replaces your full-time salary, you will not achieve a work-life balance unless you heal your relationship with work and with yourself. I repeat: you will not achieve a work-life balance unless you heal your relationship with work and with yourself.

We often think that all we need to do to achieve financial freedom is to find work that’s fulfilling, aligned with our purpose, and allows for complete autonomy in our lives. While these things are true, burnout doesn’t actually arise from these external factors as much as you might think. In fact, burnout is self-inflicted more often than not because it’s driven by internal factors—not those which an employer can inflict on us. I’m talking about:

• People-pleasing tendencies.
• The need to prove yourself.
• The need to be liked or validated.
• Deep-rooted beliefs about how hard you should work.
• Irrational fears about letting people down.
• Lasting trauma from toxic workplaces.
• Bad habits surrounding over-working. 
• And the list goes on.

So, even if you are successful at building a business that’s exactly what you want it to be and you have complete control over all aspects of your life, you might end up stuck in an infinite loop of burnout if you don’t tackle the deep-rooted issues that are contributing to this outcome in the first place. In other words, you’ll take the control you now have and use it to re-create old patterns that keep resulting in you finding yourself stressed out, over-worked, and resentful at the world around you.

Let's elaborate on one of the factors listed above to further illustrate this important concept. Even after leaving toxic workplaces, many of us carry the emotional weight of those experiences. The need to please others, the fear of not being good enough, and the pressure to prove yourself don’t simply disappear. If you’ve experienced a toxic work environment, it’s okay to acknowledge that the trauma from those situations might still be affecting you now. That's completely normal and to be expected. But how long will you allow this lingering trauma to limit you in the present and influence you in the future?

The unfortunate reality is that true financial freedom can only come from doing the inner work alongside the outer work. That means challenging your limiting beliefs, being exposed to alternative perspectives, and properly healing your relationship with work.

It’s not your lack of skills or experience that’s causing your imposter syndrome. It’s not your lack of drive to make a positive impact on the healthcare industry. It’s not that you’re not capable of thriving as a business owner. It’s about:

• being the version of yourself who has the life you want;
• finding an authentic, aligned way to make a meaningful impact;
• learning to trust yourself to handle anything that comes your way; and
• creating new, healthy patterns in your working life.

That’s what you need to focus on if you want to succeed in this industry.

True financial freedom can only come from doing the inner work alongside the outer work.

It’s really hard to achieve these kinds of deep-rooted mindset shifts on your own, and it definitely doesn’t happen overnight. So, if you’re looking for someone to guide you step-by-step through this transformation—both in building your business and shifting your mindset—feel free to email me to a) share what resonated in this article and b) initiate a conversation about the ways in which I may support you on your entrepreneurial journey: sophie@prospology.com.

If you're not in a position to invest in yourself right now, here's a 15-min YouTube video I made that elaborates on the topics discussed in this article. For more original, heart-felt content like this, be sure to subscribe!

I help ambitious professionals transform burnout into financial freedom by healing their relationship with work and aligning with their true purpose. To learn more, visit www.prospology.com.