Why Magical Thinking is Poisoning Your Freelance Success (and How to Stop)
Ever catch yourself thinking that clients will just show up? This kind of magical thinking might be comforting, but it’s holding you back from freelance success. Shifting to a growth mindset will help you build a stable, successful freelance business.
Magical thinking is when you believe success will happen just by wishing for it or hoping it’s inevitable. It’s like planting seeds and expecting them to grow into beautiful flowers without watering them. These things don’t happen.
You may not even realize you’re using magical thinking. Here are few ways it shows up in your day-to-day decisions:
- Believing talent alone is enough for freelance success. Talent is necessary but freelancing is about way more than just good writing or editing (or whatever you do). You need to show clients why you’re they should hire you and you need to run a professional business.
- Expecting clients to come to you without effort. Many freelancers think or hope that clients will somehow just find them. This doesn’t happen.
- Hoping for overnight success. Building a stable, successful freelance business takes time—usually about two years—and a lot of effort.
Why Magical Thinking Harms Your Freelance Business
Magical thinking might seem harmless but it distorts your view of how success works. When you expect results without planning or effort, you’ll have unrealistic expectations and a passive mindset. And you won’t be able to solve the inevitable problems freelancers experience.
Unrealistic expectations
Things won’t work out simply because you want them to. Unrealistic expectations set you up for disappointment and burnout. You might even wonder if becoming a freelancer was the right decision for you.
Here’s the reality. Freelance success isn’t a lottery. It’s more like planting a garden. You need patience, daily care, and the understanding that it takes time to see results.
A passive mindset
Magical thinking often promotes a “sit back and wait” mentality. But action leads to freelance success, not a passive mindset.
When you wait for success to find you, you stop—or never start—taking the actions that grow your business, like building your network or reaching out to potential clients.
Freelance success hinges on what you do, not what you hope for. Clients are looking for freelancers who show—through client-focused marketing—how they can help clients meet their needs.
Lack of effective problem-solving
Freelancing isn’t easy. You’ll face slow months, no, few, or difficult clients, and self-doubt. If you’re waiting for success to find you, you won’t deal with the problems, which will only get harder to solve.
How to Shift from Magical Thinking to a Growth Mindset
Magical thinking says, “It’ll work out somehow.” Strategic thinking says, “What can I do to make this work?”
When you trade magical thinking for a growth mindset, you stop hoping for change and start creating it. Freelancers with a growth mindset know that they can build a stable, successful freelance business. And they’re willing to put time and effort into doing this.
You can change your mindset. Here’s how.
Take small, repeated actions
You can’t control outcomes, like whether a client hires you. But you have total control over your actions.
Taking small, repeated actions builds the momentum that helps you continue to work hard to develop your talent and abilities. It helps you build the marketing habit.
Focus on small wins
Focus on small actions that will give you small wins because each small win gets you one step closer to freelance success.
If you aim to get 3 new clients in 30 days, for example, you’re going to be disappointed. Clients rarely need freelancers when we first market to them.
But you can easily develop a list of 25 prospective clients and send them direct emails over the next 30 days. Each email you send is a small win. Actions like this, repeated often, are very likely to result in new clients in the future.
Be curious
Running a freelance business is hard. Most of us have few business skills when we start out. And most freelancers never had a chance to learn about marketing.
Cultivate a love for learning and self-improvement. Ask questions and explore new things. Continually expand your knowledge, skills, and mindset.
Replace magical thinking with strategic thinking
Strategic thinking gives you clear steps to follow, so you can take the actions that lead to freelance success. Also, it helps you understand that marketing your freelance business is just as important as doing excellent work.
Embrace challenges and mistakes
Instead of avoiding challenges and pretending mistakes didn’t happen, see them as opportunities to enhance your skills and grow. Take actions that will let you do better the next time.
Learn more about the growth mindset
5 Easy Ways for Freelancers to Develop the Growth Mindset
Continually Market Your Freelance Business
Marketing your freelance business is the bridge between being great at what you do and showing clients that you’re great at what you do.
Think of marketing as planting seeds. The more you plant, the more freelance opportunities will grow—because without consistent marketing, it’s really hard to build and sustain a stable, successful freelance business.
Use what works best in getting great clients
Three things work best in marketing a freelance business: Networking, LinkedIn, and direct email. This is based on my survey How Freelancers Market Their Services: 2023 Survey Results and my work with hundreds of freelancers through Finding the Freelance Clients You Deserve.
Who you know—your network—can be more important than anything else in getting high-paying freelance clients.
That’s because clients want to do business with freelancers they know and trust—or freelancers that someone they know and trust referred to them. And it’s not as easy as you probably think it is for them to find competent, dependable freelancers.
More and more clients are searching for freelancers on LinkedIn. And when clients meet or hear about you, they want to check you out, usually on LinkedIn, before contacting you about freelance work. Colleagues also want to check you out before they refer work to you.
How to get great clients using direct email
Direct email frees you from low-paying, high-competition freelance jobs sites and content mills and taking whatever work comes along.
When you use direct email well, you make yourself irresistible to steady, high-paying clients. You do this by carefully customizing each email to the client and focusing on how you can help the client.
Also, you learn more about the clients you want to work with. This will help you become the expert that great clients are looking for when they hire a freelancer.
Get tips on how to use networking, LinkedIn, and direct email to get the clients you deserve
3 Easy Ways to Get the Freelance Clients You Deserve in 2025
Take Control of Magical Thinking Today
Magical thinking tricks you into waiting for success to somehow find you. Stop hoping things will work out and start taking the actions that will drive your success.
Learn More About What to Do Instead of Magical Thinking
Free ebooks
Get the Freelance Clients You Deserve: The Proven Process for Growing Your Freelance Business
Blog posts
How to Get Your Ideal Freelance Clients
5 Easy Ways for Freelancers to Develop the Growth Mindset
The Habit that Will Make You a Freelance Success
How to Make Marketing as Easy as Tying Your Shoes