Can the AA recovery program philosophy be applied to quitting the 9-5 life and succeeding as a freelancer? I think so. Only here, you can drink.

Every Alcoholics Anonymous meeting begins with the serenity prayer:
“God, grant us the serenity
to accept the things we cannot change,
courage to change the things we can,
and wisdom to know the difference.”

If you’re new to freelancing and haven’t had a really annoying client yet, keep the above prayer in mind for when you get one. Repeat it aloud to yourself until it sinks in. Then repeat it a few more times. It honestly works, even if your higher-power is a door knob.

The serenity prayer is followed by a reading of How It Works. While certainly not all of it applies, I’m intrigued by the many parts that do. It begins:

“Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.”

Of course, there is more than one right way to jump off the day-job ship and build your own freelance tugboat. But I’ve met freelancers who fail. They want to escape the cubicle, but they don’t want to really look at themselves and assess their abilities, improve their skills, put in the hard work necessary for success. They’re incapable of being honest with themselves, or choose not to be.

“If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it, you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these, we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not.”

Failures want someone to throw them a life-raft; they’re not up for saving their own lives.

“Some of us have tried to hold onto our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.”

What worked at the corporate office won’t necessarily work at the home office. As a freelancer, letting go of those old “employee” ideas is crucial to making it on your own.

“Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point.”

The minute we tell the boss to shove it and walk out that door, we’re entering a new life. Half-assed efforts won’t cut it in the freelance world. Not if you’ve got bills to pay.

Although the full chapter of How It Works isn’t read at the meetings (it’s lengthy), my favorite parts comes closely after the reading ends:

“Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way… Is he not a victim of the delusion that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world only if he manages well? … Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate… So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making.”

How many blogs and forums do you visit where you watch freelancers fight with each other, step on each other’s toes, turn a friendly debate into a mudslinging? How many times have you balked about rates? Felt sorry for yourself over rejection or criticism and wanted to give up? Argued with clients because you want to run the show? Made things personal that weren’t?

We all do these things, because we’re human, but isn’t it a waste? We’re taking time away from our own work, creative energy away from our own personal projects. All because we want to be right, and when we’re wrong we want to have someone else to blame our failures on.

When I’m at an AA meeting, I see more than just alcoholics. I see all of us.

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