How I got to be a freelancer

As some of you already know, I work as a freelancer. I started when I was 16 years old, with a YouTube channel focused on promoting music for artists that were not as known as others, and when that wasn't an option any more, I started doing all kind of things, from web design, to graphic design, to writing.

However, my dream of becoming a freelancer started way before that, when I was in elementary school and I realized that after years and years of studying what school forced me to study, I had no idea how the real world actually works, how to take care of myself, and I had absolutely no skills that I could use to make some money and live a decent life.

That was way before high school, but since I realized that, I started carrying less and less about school and I started spending my energy and attention on other things. When I was 8 years old my parents bought me a computer, which was the best gift they ever gave me. When I realized I am not prepared for life despite being in school for around 6 years, I started putting all my learneffort and attention into my computer, and learn things that could help me in the future.

I started learning graphic design and video editing when I was 14 years old, way before my first YouTube channel, and some of you may have already seen a few of my graphic design works here, on Steemit. School never managed to make me excited about what I was learning, but 2 months working in Photoshop managed to make me want to wake up every morning and work all day long.

Sadly, while I really loved video editing too, I didn't succeed in making any money out of that skill at that age. My computer was really slow and really old, so I wasn't able to create awesome videos that would've got me some money. I stopped editing videos pretty soon, and focused most of my attention on graphic design.

However, as I said, when I grew older I created a YouTube channel, and that helped me get around $100 - $200 a month. Those were the first money I made in my entire life. It was the first proof I had that I was able to do something on my own, something that school never told me I could. And that helped me prove my parents that I can actually do something with the things I learn and that spending so much time in front of my computer isn't as bad as they say.

I kept working on that YouTube channel for around two more years, when things started going bad. I started making less and less money from all the videos I made, and at some point I decided it's just not worth spending so much time working on something without getting any kind of rewards.

So I started working again in Photoshop, this time uploading my work to websites like Graphic River and Creative Market, to sell a few design packages and maybe make some money. I was so obsessed with making money online that I even got to a point where I was working for more than 12 hours a day, just to make sure I make enough progress.

In around a year, after learning more and more about those websites and after managing to upload a few design packages on Graphic River, I started making money again. In a few months I made around $50, then $100, and then I got close to making, once again, around $100 - $200 a month.

A while ago, besides Graphic River and Creative Market I decided it's time to learn how to do something completely different, besides the graphic design work, in order to increase my income, and that's when I started creating all kind of short articles for Medium. I kept posting for around 40 days, when I discovered Steemit.

I decided to start posting on this website almost every single day, and interact with the community, and I can say this was one of the best decisions I made in a long time. Steemit provides a great opportunity to get some income, do what you like, while also interacting with great people.

This is how I got to make money as a freelancer, by trying all kind of things. I even tried other websites that promised a lot of money easily, like "ad clicking websites" or "e-mail ad clicking". In case you ever see one of those websites, just avoid them, because there's nothing for you there.

Anyway, while I told you how I got to become a freelancer, I never told you why. As I said, I wanted to become one when I was in school, after realizing that all those years spent learning things the teachers told me to learn were a waste of time. But it was more than that.

When I was 11 years old I had to go to Spain with my parents, and I spent one year there. I think it was the best year of my life. It was the first time I got to meet new people and learn a new language, and I can sincerely say that Spain was awesome.

But we had to come back home one year later. It was because my parents weren't making as much money as before. I started going to school here, once again, with my old class mates, but it was nothing like before. I was bullied, treated like an "outsider", and the only two friends that I had were bullied too.

I got out of elementary school being extremely happy that I escaped from that "prison" I was forced to go to every single day. When high school started, I made sure to keep my head up and not let myself be bullied again, and it worked. I also had nice class mates. But that didn't make me hate people less.

When I got to 10th grade, because I was in a "technical" high school, I had to work, with my class, at a factory nearby. We went there once a week, for around 2 or 3 hours. We had to work with the employees in that factory and help them do all kind of things, in order to "gather experience" and maybe get a job after being done with school.

That's when I realized how miserable a person can be if he or she doesn't do what they love. If you're forced to work for 8 or 12 hours a day at a place you hate just to get some money at the end of the month, survive, and maybe, MAYBE get a few things you desire, I think you need to change a few things in your life because that's not living - that's slavery.

I was so horrified with the way those people lived, that I decided I just need to do something else. I didn't want to work in a place I hated with mediocre people that faked 90% of their behavior just to fit in, with people that gossiped all day and that kept their eyes on the watch 90% of the time to make sure they don't work more than they're paid for.

So I decided to do something else. I decided to not focus on school and focus on educating myself with the resources I had. I started reading articles, books, learning new things, and eventually, I started doing YouTube. When I received my first payment, $190, I knew I could do something else, and that's how I started freelancing.

Right now I work on all kind of projects, from graphic design to writing and maybe, soon, game development, trying my best to get a good computer that could help me work better and use newer software. I never imagined making money online is so hard sometimes, but I also never imagined it can be so much fun.

The fear of doing something I hated for 8 hours a day and spend my entire life trying to survive made me want to be the person I am today, and work as a freelancer. And while I may not be rich, and while sometimes I have to work for more than 8 hours a day, at least I am happy, doing what I love, spending my time with people I like, and I'm not forced to do something I hate just to get some money and live comfortably.