The myth of "working for yourself"

The freelancer's life is a great thing. It's not that you're totally free of problems, but compared to the typical employee's work, the average freelancer does enjoy many more benefits.

But just a word of caution for those thinking of becoming freelancers: You are never simply "working for yourself."

Sure, you have more control over how you structure your time and career. But unless someone is hiring you, you're not exactly working, much less working for yourself.

So, obviously, freelancers do answer to "bosses", known as "clients" in this case.

In fact, one could argue that traditional employees have things a little easier if they're just having to answer to one person at work. A successful freelancer is answering to multiple bosses, all of whom have little interest in what your other bosses want or need at any given moment.

That can create some stress on your part as you try to juggle multiple projects. I experienced that first-hand late last year when I had about nine projects going at once. While it's nice for any freelancer to be that busy and in demand, you certainly come to a clear understanding that you are working for other people.

If you want to stay a successful freelancer, you'd better know how to keep all those bosses happy. And just to keep things interesting, each boss may define "happy" a little differently.

See what I'm getting at? You're not exactly "working for yourself" the way people think of it when say the word freelancing... you're still working for other people.

That comes as a shock to some people who go into freelancing thinking they can do things exactly how they want without taking into account the needs and expectations of clients.

Like I said, the freelancer's life is a great thing. Just be aware that you're still working for other people. And those people play a big part in whether you're successful or not.